


The Secret Child

by CherryHearts13



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-21
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-01-25 22:49:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 82,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1665356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryHearts13/pseuds/CherryHearts13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All families have their secrets, most people would never know them, but they know there are spaces, gaps where the answers should be, where someone should have sat, where someone used to be. A name that is never uttered, or uttered just once and never again. We all have our secrets. The Uchiha Clan just so happens to be another one of those families.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1: Found

The moon shone brightly like a beacon in the starless night sky. All around the village, everything was remarkably silent. Animals and civilians alike were tucked away, warm and cozy, in their beds. The village was, for once, completely at peace since the Third Shinobi World War started to make its decent towards peace.

Some skeptics could not help but wonder if what they were experiencing was, as the cliché goes, the calm before the storm. They had the feeling that something possibly life changing was about to happen, though they did not know if it was for the better or for the worse. All they really knew was that something big was coming. The others, who were enjoying the peace and not questioning anything, silently hoped that nothing would come along and disrupt the calm that had settled over the Hidden Leaf.

That something was coming sooner than they thought… although not in the form they expected.

Shinobi walked along the outer walls waiting for something –  _anything_  – to happen. They had been getting bored as of late ever since the village fell into a state of peace. Though they could not deny that they were grateful that there was no immediate danger to their beloved village, they could not help but long for the rush of battle.

A lone figure walked around the village looking for any signs of trouble. The figure was unmistakably male. He had had short, black hair that reached to his shoulders and obsidian eyes. He wore the standard green flak jacket, with a black shirt that had the Konoha Military Police Force symbol on the shoulders, shin-guards and a black open-front apron with white diamonds on the bottom.

There was a stern look on his face, which made the creases underneath his eyes become more pronounced, as he let his gaze roam over the quiet village. The man realized that he would find nothing amiss on such a calm and peaceful night, and began to make his way home knowing that his beloved wife would be waiting up for him, even though it was well into the night. With the thought of surprising his wife with his arrival, he rounded the corner. On a whim, he had taken the long way home. Walking passed the stretch of forest on the outskirts of the village he heard ruffling in the foliage. With the grace of a cat, the dark haired man stealthily made his way into the trees. Hoping onto the nearest branch, he made his way towards the source of all the noise.

He was ready to reprimand the group of genin that he was sure was messing around, only to be infuriated that he had let his guard down. He was the captain of the military police force; he could not afford to let his guard down.

Down below him were three ninja, and if their forehead protectors were anything to go by, they were shinobi from Kumogakure – the Village Hidden in the Clouds. From his vantage point up in the tree, he could see that they were after something though he did not know exactly what it was. He knew that the Hidden Leaf had not allied with the Hidden Cloud and he was not informed that there would be any Kumo-nin wandering around the village.

"Where did it go," the female of the group whispered aggressively to her teammates. A scowl of frustration etched onto her lovely face. She had shoulder length white hair, and smooth chocolate brown skin. "Raikage-sama will not be pleased if another country were to find out about this."

Interest piqued, the dark eyed man slunk back into the shadows waiting to hear more. He took out a kunai from the holster on his right leg, and gripped it in his hand. As he listened, he discovered that something had gone wrong with a jutsu that the Raikage was working on and the outcome of it had somehow made its way into Konoha.

A sneeze echoed out into the forest – oddly reminding the silent man of a kitten – causing the Kumo-nin to fall silent and become alert. They scanned the surrounding forest from where they stood. Soon the three had decided to separate and find the source of the sneeze. The man was stumped. What kind of ninja allowed their position to be given away by a mere sneeze?

He figured it would be best to deal with the Kumo-nin first before going after the source of the sneeze. Silently he moved from tree to tree going after the bigger of the two men first. Once the larger man was in perfect view, he let a barrage of kunai rain down on the unsuspecting man. Though the man was large, that did not hinder his speed. The dark eyed man wanted to finish the fight quickly, and did just that. Flashing behind the ninja he quickly slit his throat, and then turned and ran towards the other male.

The female of the group seemed to have all the information about what had happened, while the other two seemed to know very little.

He found the second male heading in the direction of the Hyuga Compound. With a well-aimed shuriken, the second man fell over dead. Pivoting on his foot mid stride, the dark haired man ran in the direction where he sensed the female of the group.

Breaking into the clearing where the Kumo-nin were once gathered he paused when he heard what sounded like crying. Letting his gaze flicker around the area he searched for the cries, but heard nothing. When he was about to run out of the clearing he heard the cries again. Paying rapt attention to detail, he scanned the area once again. That time was a success fore he saw movement at the base of one of the lager trees. Looking closer he realized that there was a child hidden within the roots.

The man became slightly afraid, not for himself but for the small child. There was a Kumo-nin still within the forest, and she could easily harm the child. Not to mention if there was a battle then the child could possibly be killed. He needed to find a way to remove the child from the area without drawing attention to them.

Walking closer he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a look of fear wash over the child's features as he approached her. He was shocked that she had raised a kunai in defense. From what he could tell, the child was female, and judging from her size, was no older than a year. She wore a pale yellow sundress that was ripped and torn in various places. He could also see there were a few scrapes, cuts, and bruises scattered around her small body. The look of fear in her eyes almost overwhelmed him.

Crouching down, so as not to scare her with his larger stature, he spread out his arms and allowed his eyes to soften. A friendly smile made its way onto his face. "Come on out of there, and I'll take you back to your parents," he spoke to her softly.

She took a small step forward before changing her mind and ran away instead.

The man's eyes widened. Jumping back up to his feet he ran after the little girl. He caught up to her in less than a second. Scooping her up into his arms, he had to bite back a yelp of pain as her little arm swung and slashed at his cheek with the kunai she held. After a bit of struggling, he finally managed to pry the kunai from her surprisingly strong grip without hurting her. The little girl stiffened when she realized what she had done to the strange man.

"Sowwy," she said softly. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears as she stared at the injury she had caused the man. There was a thin slash across his right cheek. Her lip began to quiver.

"It's alright little one," the man spoke softly. When the tears fell from her eyes, he gently wiped them away with his thumb. "I'm not going to hurt you." When she finally calmed down, he continued. "I need to get you out of here. It's not safe for you." She nodded again staring straight into his eyes. Reaching up a tiny hand, she rested it over his right eye.

"Pwetty," she mumbled. The man blinked his eyes and reopened them. "It gon'," the child cried out astonished. Again, he closed his eyes and opened them again. "Magic," she lisped out when his eyes returned to their glowing red color. The man chuckled at her innocence.

"What's you name little one," he asked her.

"Kim," she replied quietly still observing his eyes.

"Well hello Kim, I'm Fugaku," he introduced himself to the child. "Now let's get you back to where you belong."

XxX

From above the white haired Kumo-nin watched the scene play out. Of all the people to stumble upon the child, Fugaku Uchiha was the last person she expected. He had taken down her partners with ease. A slow grin spread across her face as she brought her hand up in a seal. The jutsu was released, and the henge faded away. Short white hair grew into long black hair, chocolate colored skin turned pale, brown eyes turned snake-like, and the feminine features turned masculine.

"This was not exactly what I had planned, although Fugaku finding her will make things all the more interesting," he whispered to himself. He then let out a laugh, "Kukukuku," before disappearing back into the shadows.

XxX

As Fugaku was walking towards the Hokage tower to see if anyone had gone to report a missing child, he studied the little girl that was in his arms. She had large obsidian eyes, and unruly ebony colored hair.

Looking into her eyes, he could tell that some of the fear they once carried was gone, but they remained cautious. He did not want to think about the things that made her the way she was right then. Was she what the Kumo-nin were after? If so, then why? Had Kumo turned the small child into a Jinchuriki?

Wanting to get to the Hokage's tower as soon as possible, Fugaku slightly bent his knees while tightening his grip around the dark haired little girl and sprung up onto the roof of the nearest building. Hearing a squeal, he looked down only to see the little girl's eyes wide in amazement. Then she started to giggle uncontrollably. He allowed a small smile to grace his face at the sight.

Soon the Hokage's tower came into view. The entire building was shrouded in darkness. It was at that moment that he remembered that the Sandaime had left for a meeting with the feudal lord of the Fire Country.

Changing his course of direction, Fugaku headed towards the Police HQ. On his way he spotted a house he was quite familiar with. Light poured out of the large windows from the dining room area. From what he could see, the Yellow Flash was pacing back and forth in front of the dining table. When he got closer, he could see that a look of worry covered the blonde man's face. There was a feeling of unease floating around. He felt that something was going to happen though, like the others, he did not know what. Not being able to get to sleep, he opted to read over some new scrolls and finish up on a few seals.

The blonde man's musings were interrupted by a tapping at the window. When he turned to face the window, he was surprised to see none other than Uchiha Fugaku perched on his windowsill. Minato made his way over towards the window to allow the other man into the house.

"Fugaku-san what brings you here so late," Minato asked, as the dark haired man made his way into the room via window. When he saw movement he looked down to see the child that was in the other man's arms. He addressed the little girl directly. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Kim," the child spoke shyly, as she looked over the blonde male before her.

"Kim, as in Kimi, doesn't that mean 'secret'? It's a really pretty name you have Kim," he told her with a bright smile, which in turn caused the little girl to return the gesture. "Fugaku-san, why is this child with you? Or did you and Mikoto-chan have another one when no one was looking," the blonde man joked, which earned him a glare from the Uchiha.

Kim saw the look on Fugaku's face and mimicked him, narrowing her large eyes in a hard glare at the blonde man and thinning her lips into a tight line. The look she gave him caused Minato's eyes to widen in surprise. "Well, she does kind of look like you."

"I found her while on my way back home from nightly patrols. She was in the woods where I encountered three Kumo-nin," the Uchiha spoke in a monotone.

"Kumo-nin," the Namikaze asked dropping his playful demeanor and taking on a serious one. "You don't think that they might try something so soon after the war? Did you happen to gather any information on them? Did you inform the Hokage of this?"

"It didn't seem like that way," Fugaku reassured his Hokage that another was not about to break out. "They were trying to capture something. They kept stating that something had escaped. After I took two of the three out, I went in search of the third member, a female that seemed to be fully aware of the situation, but that was when I came across the child. Since the Hokage is away at a meeting, I radioed HQ and sent out a few of my men to investigate and inform Danzo of the situation."

Both men's expressions darkened at the mention of the Sandaime's rival. They were not particularly fond of the war hawk.

"I see," Minato mauled over the new information. "Why did you bring the child here?"

"I also fear that this child may be what the Kumo-nin were after," the Uchiha Clan leader spoke.

"Why would that be," Minato inquired.

"Kumo is always trying to find ways to strengthen their ranks. This child could possibly be another Jinchuriki." He looked down at the little girl that was resting in his arms, and sincerely hoped that he was in fact wrong. He was a father and even though he wanted his son to be the strongest, he did not want him to go through all the pain of becoming a Jinchuriki if he could prevent it.

"I'll examine her for any seals," Minato said as he held out his arms for the little girl. Fugaku calmly handed her over to the blonde. The little girl clung to the man's vest not wanting to be handed over. After a bit of struggle Minato finally got the little girl away from the dark eyed man. Fugaku had to stifle a laugh as the little girl pulled on the blonde Hokage's hair. "She has quite the grip."

"Don't let her get a hold of any weapons," the Uchiha warned.

"Wait, she did that to you," blue eyed man asked shocked. "I thought one of those Kumo-nin managed to knick you." He let out a snicker, which earned him another glare. He turned around and laid the little girl on the table. He lifted her shirt up, and placed his right hand over her bellybutton. "Okay, Kim, this might feel a little bit weird, but I need you to stay still for me. Can you do that?"

When Kim nodded, Minato sent pulses of chakra into her small body. The sensation of having chakra pumped into her body was strange, and it had more of a tickling sensation rather than a painful one. No longer able to hold it in, she let her giggles escape.

"Well she doesn't seem to be a Jinchuriki, though she does seem to be ticklish," Minato said with a laugh as he tickled the girl's sides. "

Static from Fugaku's scanner interrupted them. After a brief conversation, he turned back to the blonde haired man. "It seems that there haven't been any reports of missing children."

"It's too late to take her to the orphanage, or ask anyone to take care of her in the meantime. Unless you would be willing to take her in for the night, I know you have Itachi, but that is the only option I can think of. I would take her in myself, but I wouldn't know the first thing on how to care for her and Kushina is out on a mission."

"Daddy," Kim called out as she stood up on the wooden tale with her arms stretched out. Fugaku choked on his spit, causing Minato to laugh yet again. The little girl rubbed at her eyes tiredly, and let out a yawn.

"Good luck Daddy," Minato called out to Fugaku, as the man was preparing to leap out of the window with the child wrapped securely in his arms. The blonde had to jump out of the way of a kunai. He let out a chuckle at his friend's antics, and decided to call it a night. He knew that if he had taken the little girl in, the two of them would both be crying by the end of the night. Fugaku was better suited to watch after Kim, than he was.


	2. Part 1: False Accusations

Fugaku jumped from the window of the Minato's house onto the nearest building. The little girl in his arms laughed as he hopped along the roofs of the buildings. A small, barely noticeable, smile graced the stoic man's face at the sight of the young child's joy.

"Fasta daddy, fasta," the adorable one year old chanted. She clutched onto the man's green vest tightly, as he picked up his pace. Unfortunately, for the small girl, the man leapt off a building and stopped in front of large wooden gates. There were red and white paper fans painted on the large wooden doors. "Whewe awe we?"

"This is the Uchiha District," Fugaku stated as he walked through the gates. Past the gates, the Uchiha District looked like its own little village within the Hidden Leaf. There were a few little shops, and rows of houses. Everywhere the little girl looked, there were more red and white paper fans; they were painted on the stone walls or printed on banners. "This is where you will be staying."

"Weally," the little girl asked in awe, and Fugaku nodded his head in confirmation.

The little girl's wide obsidian eyes took in the sights before her as the man who was carrying her walked towards a large house that seemed to be at the back of the district. The house seemed to be the largest in comparison to the others they had walked passed. Fugaku walked through the entrance, and then stopped right in front of the door. He looked down at the little girl.

"My wife and my son are both asleep right now, so I want you to be as quiet as possible," he said to the little girl. The little girl giggled before she covered her mouth with her tiny hands trying to stay quiet. He waited for her to nod before he opened the front door, and walked into the house. Once he had opened the door, he was met with his wife who wore a hunter's expression, and was armed with a chopping knife. The sight caused the Uchiha Clan leader to visibly pale, and stumbled back in shock.

XxX

 _I wonder what's taking him so long. He never stays out this late_ , a worried Mikoto thought as she sharpened a kitchen knife used for chopping vegetables.

She had long since cleaned the entire house, from sweeping the floors, doing the laundry, picking up after her four-year-old son, to slicing and dicing vegetables and placing them in glass containers.  _I hope nothing happened to him._  Just as that last thought came to mind, Mikoto head footsteps walking up the short path towards the front door.

The ebony haired woman placed the knife she was sharpening onto the counter. She found it a bit strange that the footsteps stopped right at the door, and made no move to enter. Maybe it wasn't her husband after all. What if something had happened to him and it was a random Jonin coming to break the news to her? Her heart began to beat erratically at her morbid thoughts. Then she heard her husband's voice.

"My wife and my son are both asleep right now, so I want you to be as quiet as possible," her husband spoke to an unnamed person. Her heart began to sink, as her mind was racing with thoughts of whom her husband was speaking to, and he would never bring home a guest without informing her first. Her blood ran cold when she heard a feminine giggle, and her body felt as if it were on fire; a great contradiction. She acted without thinking when she heard the creak of the front door opening.

XxX

"M-Mikoto," Fugaku stuttered at the sight of his wife. The Uchiha matriarch had not even activated her Sharingan, but in that moment, her eyes looked just as deadly. The woman had the chopping knife gripped tightly in her hands poised for an attack. "What's going-"

"Where is that *trollop," the woman practically growled out in a chilling voice. Her long black hair seemed to be taking a leaf out of her closest friend's book, and seemed to be floating around her, making her appear all the more menacing. Her dark eyes were filled with anger, and her peach colored skin was flushed.

"Daddy whaz a twollop," a little girl's voice question causing Mikoto's eyes to shift towards the small child that was being carried by her husband. The dark haired woman's eyes to widened in shock. She let her eyes dart back and forth from her husband and the small child he was holding. Like Minato, she instantly saw the similarities between the two. Then the little girl had called him 'Daddy,' and he did not deny it. She could not hurt the small child for she was not to blame, but her husband on the other hand…

"Who did you sleep with," the small woman cried. Tears had begun to gather in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had to be strong. "You cheating bastard!"

Thankfully, Fugaku had put the child down when Mikoto launched her knife at him. She quickly ran towards the kitchen with her husband chasing after her.

The little girl trailed after the two with tears running down her face. She did not mean to make the man's wife upset. Once she reached the entrance to the kitchen she poked her little head in, and her eyes widened at the sight before her.

Her body stiffened in fright when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Slowly she turned her head around to see who was standing behind her. Standing behind her was a boy around four years old. He looked a lot like Fugaku and his wife, the little girl noted. He had chin length black hair that was sticking up in places from where he had been asleep. His large black eyes reminded her of the woman's, and they were bleary with sleep.

The little boy was rubbing at his eyes trying to wake up. He had been sleeping peacefully in his bed when he was woken up by his parents shouting. Being a rather curious child, he decided to go and investigate. When he reached the part of the house were the shouting resonated, he stopped in his tracks when he saw a girl a few years younger than him standing by the entrance to the kitchen. The girl looked like she was another member of the Uchiha Clan, but he was the youngest member of the clan.

He could tell that the girl was crying by the way her shoulders were shaking. Walking up to the girl he put a hand on her shoulder in hopes of comforting her, but it had the opposite effect. Instead of making her feel better it scared her, and made her tears fall faster from her wide eyes. When the girl let out a whimper, the little boy panicked and pulled her into a hug like the ones his mother gave him whenever he was scared. He wrapped his arms around her smaller form and began to pat her back awkwardly. When she calmed down, he started to speak.

"Um, my name's Itachi. What's yours," the little boy introduced himself to the little girl. He remembered his father telling him that it was common courtesy to introduce oneself before asking for another's name.

"I'm Kim," the little girl said shyly. "Why are dey fighting? Did I do sumting to make them mad? I didn' mean to."

"Let's go see," Itachi said as he grabbed her hand and led her into the kitchen.

When the two children walked into the kitchen it looked like a hurricane had hit. Knives were imbedded in the walls, the table had been upturned and thrown to the side, water was leaking from the faucet, food stained the walls, and the refrigerator door was wide open.

Standing by the open refrigerator was Mikoto, as she took out whatever her hands grabbed, and slung it across the room over at the upturned table. Fugaku was taking refuge behind the table. When Mikoto ran out of thing to throw at her unfaithful husband, she picked up a frying pan and charged at him. Every time Fugaku tried to explain the situation to his wife, she would throw something at him and he would be forced to dodge or take cover. At times he would forget that his wife was a capable Jonin before the birth of their son, and she did not fail to remind him as another chopping knife whizzed past his face and embedded itself deep into the wall behind him.

The throwing of objects stopped and Fugaku chanced a look over the table he was taking cover behind. When he saw that his enraged wife had slumped to the ground, he left the cover over the table and slowly made his way towards her. He could not help but remember when he had to do the same for the little girl he was now in charge of. If he could just explain the situation to his wife then everything would be alright. Once he was a foot away from the dark eyed woman, she sprung up wielding a frying pan, and he knew he had been deceived.

The woman's attack was halted by a scream.

"Stop it," Itachi cried as he clutched the little girl's hand tighter. He did not like the sight of people fighting much less his own parents. Kim squeezed his hand comfortingly even though she herself was scared. "Please don't fight anymore!" He was rubbing away at the tears that trickled down his face.

"Mikoto please just listen to me," Fugaku asked his wife. His wife gave him a scathing glare, which caused him to shiver on the inside. "I found her while out on patrol." She was still looking at him suspiciously. "I checked in at HQ to see if there were any reports on missing children, and there were none. There might be ninja from Kumo searching the area where I found her. So for her safety, she will be staying with us." Even after his explanation, his wife still did not seem to believe him. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Here, read this."

XxX

_Fugaku was about to leap out of the window of the window of his friend's house when he remembered something. Slowly he turned on his heel, and looked back at the other man. Minato had taken a seat at the table, and was writing something in a scroll. The blonde man looked up at the black haired man, and presented him with the scroll he had previously been writing in after he had rolled it up neatly._

_"I'm sure this might come in handy," Minato spoke with a hint of humor in his voice, remembering times he was on the same genin team as the other man's wife. Fugaku could only nod his head in agreement. "It'll let her know that you were here with me and not some_ other woman, a _nd explain the situation."_

XxX

As Mikoto read over the scroll, her eyes would flicker over to the little girl standing in the doorway beside her son. By the time she had finished reading the scroll, her eyes had softened considerably and her stiff posture relaxed. The ebony haired beauty then turned her head to face her husband. As an apology was about to escape her lips her husband stopped her with an understanding smile and a shake of his head.

"So she's going to be staying with us until we find her parents," Mikoto asked looking down at the little girl.

"Yes," Fugaku answered her. "Although it doesn't seem as if she is from here, then again it's too early to tell. She could have just snuck out of bed and decided to wander around."

"Mommy can we keep her," a small voice asked, drawing his parents' attention towards him. Itachi looked up at his parents expectantly.

"Itachi," Mikoto said softly, crouching down to her son's level. "She's not a pet. She has her own family that's probably worried about her." The two small children stared at her.

"Meow," Kim impersonated the sound of a cat.

"Kitty," Itachi shouted with wide eyes as he hugged the little girl. The two children looked up a Mikoto with large pleading smiles.

"Fugaku can we keep her," Mikoto pleaded to her husband as she wrapped her arms around the little boy and girl. Fugaku gave her a blank stare. Had she not been the one to say that they could not keep the girl? The Uchiha matriarch then caught a whiff of the children in her arms. "Why do you two smell like fish?" Then it hit her, the answer to her question. She had thrown fish at her husband in a fit of rage, and some of it must have landed on the two. "Fugaku clean up this mess, while I go get these two washed up," the woman ordered as she ushered the children out of the room.

"Troublesome," the man mumbled, borrowing the catchphrase of the Nara.

"Don't forget this," Mikoto said as she tossed her husband the frying pan she had forgotten to put down. Fugaku barely managed to catch the accursed object before it made contact with his head.

"She doesn't believe me, but she believes Minato," Fugaku grumbled to himself as he rubbed a sore spot on his arm.


	3. Part 1: Meet and Greet

After bathing the two children, Mikoto got them dressed for bed. She dressed Kim in another pair of Itachi's pajamas, which he refused to wear much to Mikoto's bewilderment. Itachi wore a pair of simple red and white stripped flannel pajamas, and Kim wore a pair of oversized mint green flannel pajamas decorated with fluffy white sheep.

Fugaku sighed as he walked into his bedroom after he had cleaned up the mess that was made in the kitchen. He shook his head as he climbed into the large bed next to Itachi who was sound asleep. Lying beside Itachi was Kim curled up on her side, and next to her was Mikoto. He then promptly fell asleep in the minimal amount of space that was left to him.

When Fugaku woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see the bed empty, save for himself. After a quick shower, he walked into the kitchen to greet his wife. In the kitchen, he saw his children… He mentally shook his head.

Itachi and Kim were sitting at the table having an intense discussion about, of all things, fruit. Itachi had wanted to learn more about the little girl that was going to be stay with them for an indefinite amount of time. All of his questions fell out of his mouth at the same time, and the little girl gave him strange looks. His mother then suggested that they played a game. They would take turns asking questions, but that all fell apart when Itachi asked her what her favorite fruit was, and the little girl replied that she did not know since she had not eaten much of a variety. After that, Itachi took it upon himself to describe all the different fruits he had tried.

"Mommy," Itachi called out, catching both Mikoto and Fugaku's attention. The four-year-old boy gave her a very serious look. "We need to buy fruit."

"Why is that Itachi," Mikoto asked as if she did not already know the answer. She bent down to wipe his face clean before doing the same to the little girl sitting beside him.

" _Imouto_  doesn't know what her favorite fruit is," the dark haired little boy stated as if it was a wrong that needed to be righted. "We need to go to the market, and buy fruit."

"Itachi we just went to the market yesterday," Mikoto stated. The market was not exactly her favorite place to be.

"Yeah, but," Itachi agreed trailing off looking forlorn. He felt a tugging on his pajama's sleeve, and looked down at Kim. She pointed over to where the refrigerator was. What he saw caused him to smile. "Tou-san's drinking out of the milk carton again. So now we have to go to the market!" The two children were bouncing excitedly in their seats, while Mikoto shot a nasty glare at her husband, which caused Fugaku to choke on the milk.

"Good morning Aunty Mikoto," a voice yelled from outside the kitchen window. Suddenly a messy haired eight year old jumped into the kitchen through the window. "What's for breakfast?" He took a seat next to the little girl and ruffled her hair thinking it was Itachi. "Mornin' squirt." He looked down at the child. Looking at the little girl with a weird face he said, "Wait you're not Itachi. Aunty Mikoto when did you have another kid? So it is true that the stork just drops them off, 'cause she wasn't here yesterday."

"Shisui she didn't come from the stork," the Uchiha matriarch stated, while serving him breakfast.

"So where do babies come from them," the messy haired boy asked innocently before taking a bit out of his omelet.

The two adults in the room gave each other wide-eyed looks. Fugaku strategically took a large bite of the omelet that his wife hat set in front of him. Disaster adverted.

"She came from the stork," Mikoto said contradicting her earlier statement.

"But I thought you said," Shisui was cut off when Fugaku asked him a question.

"Why are you here," the man asked giving the eight year old a stern look for talking with food in his mouth.

"Well," he began swallowing the food in his mouth. "Tou-chan got sent out on another mission last night, so it's the usual," he finished with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders. He then continued to eat his breakfast, asking for seconds when he was done.

Fugaku just sat back and finished off his breakfast. It was typical of ninja parents to be sent out on missions, and having to find a babysitter at the last minute. It was even more typical of Kagami to leave Shisui in their care without informing them beforehand. It was a reoccurring ordeal, that became 'the usual' as Shisui had stated.

"Thanks for the food," Shisui shouted his thanks as he jumped to his feet. He slung a black messenger back over his shoulder, and started to make his way out of the kitchen. "I'm off to the academy! Bye squirts!" He then ran out of the kitchen, and soon the sound of a door opening and closing sounded throughout the house.

"Well I have to be on my way as well," Fugaku said as he slowly stood up.

"Kaa-san can we go to the market now," Itachi pleaded with wide eyes when his father had left the room. "Imouto need clothes of her own too."

"Alright you two," Mikoto sighed giving in. She started to usher the children out of the kitchen. "Let's go get you two dressed."

A little later in the morning when the two children were both dresses, Kim dressed in some of Itachi's old clothes, the three of them found themselves walking through the market of Konoha. Mikoto stood in between the two small children while holding onto one of their hands, to insure that they would not wander off on their own.

"Good morning Miko-chan," a voice sang out in greeting to the black haired woman.

"Morning Kushi-chan," Mikoto greeted as she turned around to face the person who had called out to her.

Itachi seemed to get impatient with the newcomer's presence, and Kim hid behind Mikoto, clutching onto her purple dress in slight fear.

The woman was a few inches taller than Mikoto. She had fair skin, dark blue eyes, but her most noticeable feature had to be her stunning red hair that fell below her backside.

Kim could not help but think she was beautiful like Mikoto. In the back of her mind, she hoped she grew up to have at least a fraction of the beauty the older women possessed. Without meaning to, the dark haired little girl took a step towards the red haired woman. She had not even realized that she had grabbed onto the skirt woman's green dress. She only realized what she had done when the woman turned a questioning gaze upon her small form, and lifted her up from under her arms.

"What? You and Fugaku had another one when we weren't looking? You spawned again," asked Kushina. Her blue eyes were wide in shock as she studied the little she held in her hands. The little girl certainly looked like Mikoto, if Kushina said so herself. She then studied the child's own wide eyes that had started to fill up with tears. Acting on instinct, she did not know she had, the Uzumaki pulled the girl into a warm embrace. "I thought you said…"

"Kushina," the black haired woman said with a hard voice. She knew what her friend was getting at, and she wanted to stay away from such sensitive subjects. "We didn't have another one, and we don't  _spawn._ "

"Then where did she come from, and why does she look so much like you," Kushina inquired.

"There are a lot of children with dark eyes and hair," Mikoto stated.

"Yes, but not everyone has the freaky Hyuuga genes, and this kid could be your clone," the redhead pushed her case.

"Ah Kushina, Mikoto-san," a male voice called out to the arguing women. The voice belonged to Konoha's famed Yellow Flash. He walked up to the group of four with a warm smile. "Hello Itachi-kun." His eyes widened when he caught sight of a familiar face being held by the red haired beauty. "And hello Kim-chan." He lifted the little girl out of his lover's arms, and gave her a tight hug. "So what are you doing today, little one?"

"Buying fwuit and clothes with 'Tachi-nii and mommy," the child replied shyly. Kushina stared at her husband as he conversed with the toddler.

"Why fruit," Minato asked curiously.

"'Tachi-nii said I need a favowite fwuit," she replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Minato smiled as she talked, he was happy she was not as guarded and afraid as she had been the night before.

"Wait," the redhead cut in, catching Minato's attention. "How do you know her?"

"I'm going to be Hokage, and no one is afraid of me," the blonde haired man stated stupidly. He did not even need to look at his wife's face to know that she was planning to murder him, or that her hair flew up behind her mimicking the nine tails of another deadly creature. He quickly explained how he had come to meet the child, only after he had been punched… thrice… on the head.

"Sensei what did you do now," a young feminine voice questioned.

Kim, who had been patting the blonde man's hair in silent comfort, shot a curious look at the newcomer. She did not take in her appearance as she had done for Kushina, since he gaze was stuck on the two purple rectangles that were tattooed on her face. It was then that the girl felt the eyes of the younger girl.

"Awww, how cute," she gushed, walking towards the object of her attention. She crouched down and looked into the child's ebony eyes with her own milk chocolate eyes.

"Sensei you really are lame," another voice commented, as he landed in front of the group after jumping off the building he had been standing on. The eleven year old then held out a metal plated had towards his fallen sensei to assist him in standing up, which Minato accepted gratefully.

"That's not very nice Kashi-kun," the brown-eyed girl commented, giving the white haired boy shake of her head.

"Che, whatever," Kakashi said whilst putting both of his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner.

"Che, whatevew," the ebony haired girl mimicked the older boy, striking a matching pose as the Hatake, even going as far as to close her left eye.

"Awww, Kakashi I think she likes you," Rin stated with a small laugh.

"Awww, Kakashi's got a little girlfriend," Kushina cooed, messing up Kakashi's hair in the process.

"She's not my girlfriend," the Hatake growled.

"Don't worry Kakashi I approve of her," Minato added joining in on poking fun at his normally stoic student.

"Well," Mikoto mused aloud. She looked down at her four-year-old son, who was feeling a bit left out at the moment. "I'm not sure if Itachi would want to share his little sister, and even if Minato approves, there's still Fugaku."

"It was nice knowing you Kakashi-kun," Rin said with a straight face while placing a hand on her teammate's shoulder. "What kind of flowers do you want at your funeral?" No longer able to keep the act up Rin broke out into a fit of giggles, which set off the others, causing the masked boy to scowl and his ears to turn red in embarrassment.

Kakashi shot a glare at the new bane of his existence. He was quite surprised when she gave him a bright smile that showed off her tiny teeth.  _What a little weirdo,_  Kakashi thought as he turned on his heel, giving Rin a reminder that they had a mission, and then jumping onto the nearest building. Rin bid the others farewell, and then followed her teammate.

"Well I have to catch up with my team before they leave me behind," Minato stated looking up at the sun. He turned to face Mikoto. "By the way, Fugaku say there have been no reports of missing children. I even went through all the children's files at the hospital; there is no one here that matches her description. I'd give it a week though, before placing her in the orphanage." He looked saddened at the thought of having to place another child in the orphanage. Turning to Kushina, he gave her a quick peck on the lips before making his way back to his office.

"Is it bad that I want to keep her after only spending one night with her," the raven-haired woman asked her best friend while looking down lovingly at the two children while they conversed.

"Mikoto," Kushina pleaded.

"I know she will never be a replacement for  _her._ I never even thought of it that way _,"_  she gave the redhead a sad smile," but I just feel this deep connection with her.  _She_ would have been the same age. Maybe this is a second chance. Fugaku even seems taken with her."

"Do whatever makes you happy. You know I'll always support you," the blue-eyed woman stated. "There's something else that's bothering you." It was not a question. She could tell off the bat that something was bothering the other woman.

"The clan," Mikoto sighed. "Though we're not as strict as the Hyuuga, the Uchiha have a hard time accepting outsiders. Even if we can keep her, I don't want her to be hated by the clan. I know for a fact they will refuse to allow her to use the Uchiha name."

"I can always kick their asses," Kushina said throwing her arm around the dark haired beauty's shoulders. "Anyone gives this kid hell, I teach them just who exactly their dealing with." She ended her statement with a devious grin while punching the air. "Now let's get your  _daughter_  some new clothes, and get these kids the fruit they wanted."

"Yeah," Itachi and Kim shouted in victory at the thought of finally getting their fruit.

By the end of the shopping spree, the children were still full of energy even though the women were ready to drop where they stood. Who knew shopping for a little girl could be so much fun yet to tiresome at the same time. Before the women even knew it, Itachi and Kim were pulling them up and down the market. The two threw whatever fruit looked good into the identical woven baskets they carried and hurried over to the next stall to repeat the process. Mikoto and Kushina drug their feet after them to pay the vendors as they passed by.

When they finally reached the Uchiha Mansion, the two women collapsed into the living room area of the house, and all but fell asleep. Next time the children wanted to go to the market, they were hiring Genin to take them.

Itachi and Kim were in their own little world as they tried different types of fruit in the living room.


	4. Part 1: Activated

"Come on Shisui," Itachi whined to the older child. "Take us to the market!"

"Pwease," Kim added giving Shisui a pout, which Itachi soon mimicked.

Shisui had started to regret stopping by when the two midgets pounced on him. He really should have known something was up when Mikoto snuck out of the kitchen with a sly smile on her face. Apparently, the two had been trying to get someone to take them to the market all morning, and Mikoto had refused saying that she had to do chores.

They had run out of fruit a few days ago, and they needed to replenish their stock.

Kim had found out that she quite liked the sweet taste of cherries, much to Itachi's delight. Much to Mikoto's dismay, Shisui had taught her how to spit cherry pits at people. Although she was glad that the little girl seemed to be opening up more and more as the days went by.

Three days ago, Minato had stopped by to inform them that there were no records of the girl and that she was most likely not from the village. Mikoto's blonde former teammate had even managed to get the Sandaime to contact other nations in hopes of finding the girl's parents but to no avail. It seemed as if Kim had just appeared out of thin air.

Before the Sandaime could even suggest putting the child in the orphanage, Mikoto had stated her desire to keep and raise the child with Kushina backing her up. Without even having to discuss the matter, Fugaku had agreed with his wife. A day later the lost little girl, with the striking resemblance to Mikoto and Fugaku, had been officially adopted, although not everyone had agreed with them and the adoption process was done in secret.

The majority of the Uchiha Clan had not agreed with their decision to adopt the little girl. They did not want to allow an outsider in for fear that she might be a spy. They refused to accept her part of the clan, and argued with Fugaku relentlessly over whether or not the girl should be permitted to use the clan name. Things took a turn to the more serious side when a clansman accused them of trying to replace the daughter they had lost, and were using the child as a replacement. Mikoto had run out of the meeting in tears at the false accusations with Fugaku soon trailing after her.

In the end, the clan name was documented onto her newly crafted birth certificate, but kept hidden from the other members of the clan. Fugaku had stashed the certificate away in his office, in a place he was sure no one would ever look. He and his wife both prayed that one day their new daughter would be able to refer to herself as an Uchiha and wear their clan's symbol proudly on her back.

"Please/Pwease," the two children cried simultaneously. They had their hands clasped together in front of them and were giving him the puppy-dog-face.

"If I close my eyes I can't see your faces," Shisui stated closing his eyes. "If I can't see your faces, then it won't work." He smiled down at the two; or where he thought they were standing.

"Please/pwease, please/pwease, please/pwease, please/pwease," Itachi and Kim chanted in unison.

"La, la, la, can't hear you," Shisui chanted right back at them as he stuck his fingers in his ears. He started to do a strange hopping dance along with his chanting. "La, la, la, can't hear you! La, la, la, can't hear you!"

"Shisui, what are you doing," a voice called out to the eight year old, stopping him mid-chant with one foot in the air. The aforementioned child cracked an eye open, and stared at Fugaku in shock. He pulled his fingers out of his ears, and looked around for any sight of the two little pests. When he did not see them, he figured they went off to play somewhere and shrugged it off.

"Well I have to go home," the messy haired eight year old stated. He patted his uncle on the arm and hopped out of the house continuing his strange hopping dance.

XxX

"Wait fow me," the dark haired little girl cried as she struggled to keep up with her older brother. Her legs were too short, and her brother was walking too fast.

"Imouto hurry up," Itachi shouted back at her. He stopped walking and turned around to face the smaller child. He had an excited smile on his face. When Shisui had kept being a  _big meanie_ , Itachi decided he was old enough to go to the market on his own. He was a shinobi in training after all, and he would be entering the Academy in two more years. Even his mother had said he was as responsible as an adult was, so it had to be all right.

When his little sister had caught up to him, the two made their way out of the Uchiha District. Kim held onto Itachi's hand as he led her to the farmer's market. The trip was significantly shorter than when they had gone with their mother – most likely since they had ran the entire way. Once they had reached their destination they immediately ran to the stand that had the most variety of fruit.

"Aren't you two adorable," the graying woman running the stand gushed when they had stopped in front of her stand.

They picked out cherries, grapes, kiwi, oranges, bananas, peaches, and a few apples and put them into the little wicker basket they had brought with them. They paid the woman with the money they had stolen out of Shisui's pocket while he was too busy ignoring them. After paying, the two made their way over to a deserted training area that had a river running through it. They sat on the riverbank, and after removing their shoes, they let their feet dangle in – more like hover over – the water. Itachi placed the basket between the two and they began to eat their array of fruits while their feet splashed in the water.

The two children turned their heads around when they heard voices noises coming from behind them. They saw two figures appear from the line of tree surrounding the training field. The taller of the two had white hair that seemed to defy gravity while the other had chin length brown hair with matching eyes.

Kim soon found herself staring at the purple rectangles on the brown haired girl's cheeks.

"Hey," Rin shouted in surprise looking at the two small figures sitting on the riverbank. She and her white haired teammate had decided to get lunch after their quick training session. She made her way over to the children leaving Kakashi to trail after her. "What are you two doing here all by yourselves?" She squatted down behind the two.

"Mom and Dad were busy, and Shisui was being a jerk and wouldn't take us to the market. But I'm old enough so we went by ourselves," Itachi explained to the older girl.

"Wan' one," Kim offered an apple to Rin, which she happily accepted. The small girl stood up after picking a random item out of the basket, and walked over to the white haired boy. "Hewe you go," she said with a shy smile and a light blush on her cheeks. Kakashi took the furry brown fruit out of the little girl's outstretched hand, and nodded his head in thanks.

"Awww, Kakashi," a third voice cooed from behind the group of four. A blonde man walked over while twirling a three-pronged kunai around one finger. He gave a slight snicker. "Your girlfriend cares about you." He looked over at the two children with a goofy smile on his tanned face, not noticing the tips of his student's ears turn pink. "Hello Itachi-kun, Kimi-chan!" Itachi gave the man a smile and a shy wave, while Kimi ran over and hugged him around his leg with a smile. "So are you two hungry?" Kim looked at Itachi, and they nodded their heads. Minato beamed. "Well let's get to Ichiraku!"

After Minato's proclamation, the group of five made their way over to the recently opened ramen shop. Rin carried the basket as she held onto Kim's small had, and Itachi walked between his sister and Kakashi. Minato was at the front leading the group. Once at the Ramen shop they all took their seats. Rin had placed the small girl on her lap. Kim not wanting to sit on Rin's lap, decided to sit on the bar.

"Hello," a light brown haired girl wearing a white bandana over her hair greeted from the other side of the counter. "How may I take your orders?"

"Ah Ayame-chan," Minato greeted the young girl working the counter. "I'll have a miso ramen, and-"he trailed off looking at Kim and Itachi expectantly. The two shrugged their shoulders not knowing what to order. "-they will have pork ramen."

"Okay, and what about you two," Ayame said addressing Kakashi and Rin. The two gave her their orders and she went to the back to prepare them.

"Was dat," the little girl questioned pointing towards something Rin had strapped to her hip.

"Oh this," Rin said looked at the object the little girl had pointed out. She pulled the pouch off her skirt, and held it up to the child. "This is my medic pouch. It has the basic tools every medic needs while out of the field."

"Medic," Kimi asked.

The boys watched the two girls' as they conversed.

"A medic is someone who heals people when they get hurt. It takes a lot of work and control, but it's worth it when you get to save someone's life or heal someone's  _owwie_."

"Me too," the ebony haired girl said with a small smile on her face.

"You want to be a medic," Rin asked with a smile. "I can teach you a few things if you want, and then when you're older I can teach you even more. Would you like that?" The little girl nodded her head enthusiastically causing her hair to swish back and forth, causing Rin and Minato to laugh and Kakashi to give a shadow of a smile. Itachi sat with a pout on his face since everyone seemed to be ignoring him.

Ayame came back with their orders and they all thanked her before they began to eat. Lunch had been a blast to say the least. Team Minato had chatted about random things and their latest missions among other things. Once Kim was full she had taken it upon herself to bandage a nonexistent wound on Itachi's arm, causing the others to laugh at the mummified four year old boy. Once everyone had finished their lunch Minato had departed taking the children with him. When he arrived at the Uchiha District he handed them over to Shisui who was on his way out.

XxX

Five months had passed, and things were well in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Kakashi and Rin had just finished their training session for the day.

"Stay still," whined Kim for what seemed the millionth time.

"Kakashi I would listen to her, she is the medic after all," Rin chided her teammate. As she had promised, she had started to teach the now girl the basics of first aid. The little girl may have been young, but she seemed to absorb Rin's teachings like a sponge. The dark haired child had been spending so much time with Kakashi and Rin, her vocabulary was way passed that of the average two-year-old, although she still had trouble saying her Rs. "Alright, Miss Medic, what do you need?"

Kim asked Kakashi to give her his arm that had been scraped on a mission he had recently returned from. The enemy had kicked him and sent him skidding along the terrain. She examined the pink skin.

"I need booboo spray," she said coming to her conclusion. She reached into the little medic's pouch – a gift from Rin – she had strapped to her pink belt. She pulled out a bottle of antiseptic spray. Pulling the plastic lid off the bottle, she sprayed Kakashi slight injury, causing Kakashi to flinch at the stinging sensation, before recapping the bottle and putting it away. She then pulled out a roll of bandages, and wrapped his arm. The girl turned to face her mentor. "How was that, Win-shishou?"

"You did really well," Rin commended the girl on her work. "Oh remember the man who let you do his stitches at the hospital," Kim nodded, "He said his arm healed up nicely and that if he ever needs stitches again he'll ask for you." That last comment practically caused the dark eyed girl to glow with pride.

"I still can't believe he let a two year old stick a needle in him," Kakashi muttered under his breath as he inspected his bandages. He had to admit the kid was doing really well for being so young, but then again people had always doubted his abilities for being so young too. So really, who was he to judge, but then again people never relied on him to treat their injuries. "I think it's time we take the little weirdo home and head out on our mission."

"Kakashi don't be mean," the brown haired girl scolded her teammate.

"I don't wan'na go home yet," Kimi said with a pout.

"Sorry sweetheart, but you have to," Rin said with a small smile. "We have a mission to get to, and it looks like it might start raining."

"Okay," Kim said finally giving in and letting them take her home.

The three walked along towards the Uchiha District. Kimi and Rin chatted the entire time. Once at her doorstep, Kim waved off the two ninja as the left for their mission. When she saw Mikoto walking towards her she said, "Mommy I want to be a ninja too. Then I could go with them."

"You would make a wonderful ninja just like me," the Uchiha matriarch stated as she lifted her daughter into her arms.

"You'we a ninja," the girl asked amazed.

"And so is your Aunty Kushina. How about I tell you all about it while we take you a bath?" Kim nodded her head and Mikoto carried her towards the bathroom.

XxX

Three nights had passed since Kakashi and Rin had departed for their mission. It seemed as if the rain would never let up, and the village might end up being washed away. Lightning would flash across the sky, and then the thunder would give a roar that would make even a lion tremble in fear.

Kim was wrapped up in her blanket staring straight out the window. She could not sleep, and no matter how hard she tried sleep would never come. Her stomach was churning almost as if she was going to throw up. Sitting up in bed she looked around her bedroom. A few toys littered the floor, a toy chest was open reveling even more toys, her green rug covered a large portion of the wood floor, on the table that was pushed up against the wall under the window was littered with an array of bandages, creams, and sprays, and her television set reflected the flashing lightning. She twisted her light pink blanket in her hands.

Over the course of five months she came to realize that almost all of the clan did not like her. She could also count the number of people within the clan that actually liked her on one hand. They were not mean to her, but they tended to ignore her and act as if she did not exist – which in her opinion was far worse. Her father had once commented that she was the white sheep among black sheep. He also told her that they would come around one day, and see just how sweet and lovely she truly was. After that he had taken her to a flower shop, and let her pick out any kind of flowers she wanted. After searching she finally found the one she like best, and bought four white carnations – one of which she gave to Kakashi.

XxX

_"H-Hi Kashi-kun," a small voice called out to the white haired boy._

_Kakashi paused in his training to turn his head towards the direction of the voice. During his lapse in attention, Rin was able to land a punch and sent him sailing through the air only to come to a stop when his body made impact with a tree. He slid down the tree and landed in a heap at the base._

_"Kakashi," Rin and Minato called out in surprise before running over in his direction._

_"I so Sowwy Kashi," Kimi cried as she ran towards the white haired boy._

_"It's okay," Kakashi mumbled as he tried to sit up. He held his head in hoped to stop the spinning. When he pulled his hand away, he realized he was bleeding. He snapped his dark eyed gaze towards the little girl when he heard her start to sniffle. "Hey I'm fine – Oof!" He had the wind knocked out of him when the little girl threw her arms around him._

_"I'm so sorry!" With that said, the little girl ran out of the clearing before anyone could stop her._

_Later that day Kakashi found the little girl at the park. She was sitting on one of the swings letting her feet dangle. Taking one look at her face Kakashi sighed in annoyance. "Hey Kimi," he greeted as he walked up to the girl. He noticed how she flinched and looked as if she was about to run away again. He heard he begin to sniffle, and crouched down in front of her trying to look at her face. "I'm not mad at you. I was an accident."_

_"But you gots huwt," she whispered while rubbing at her eyes._

_"I'm a shinobi I've had far worse injuries than that," Kakashi stated without thinking. When he saw her eyes widen in fear he amended, "But I'm okay. I'm a strong ninja afterall."_

_"The stwongest," she questioned in awe._

_"Ah, well… when you put it like that… I mean," the white haired boy stumbled over his words. Under his mask, he could feel heat creeping up his neck from the unusual compliment._

_"You'we the stwongest shinobi evah," Kimi exclaimed as he placed an innocent kiss on his lips before handing him one of the four white flowers that she held in her hands._

_Kakashi's face was glowing red under his mask as he watched the young Uchiha girl run out of the park with a bright smile on her face. He swore he heard someone laughing in the background._

XxX

She stared at the flowers where they sat in their vase on her windowsill above her worktable. They almost seemed to glow in the night. Walking over towards the window she plucked a flower out of the vase and stared out into the rain. Something suddenly came over her and she hurried to pull on her coat and her shoes before jumping out of her window.

She pulled the hood over her head as she ran through the Uchiha District. Once passed the gates that took her put of the compound she ran as fast as she could. She had no idea where she was going, but it seemed like her legs knew the way. The heavy raindrops pelted her small body, but she ignored them to the best of her ability. Her breathing was becoming more labored as she ran through the village. She did not bother with any turns, as she continued down the road she traveled on, on almost a daily basis. She realized where she was going about hallway there. Before she knew it she had ran across half the village in record time. She ran straight into the trees. When she burst out on the other side she was standing in training ground seven.

She saw something in front of the memorial stone. She squinted her eyes trying to make out what it was.

"Kakashi," she shouted as she made her way towards the Hatake. He was on his knees in front of the memorial stone with his forehead pressed against the stone and his fists clenched on either side of his head. He was muttering something, but she could not hear him due to loudness of the rain and thunder. She approached the white haired boy. "Kakashi awe you okay?" She put a tentative hand on his shoulder, which caused him to stiffen.

Slowly Kakashi turned his head to look at the little girl. His entire body was shaking due to the fact that he had been out in the rain for almost three hours straight. He had ripped his mask off some time ago; it had felt as if it was suffocating him. His forehead protector was clutched tightly in his right hand. His chest was heaving up and down, and gave an occasional shudder when he would inhale. His eyes were bloodshot, and his Sharingan was spinning wildly.

Kim not knowing what to do did the only thing that came to mind. She threw her arms around him in the same way her mother had done whenever she was sad. She held onto his still and shuddering body. Seeing him cry made her want to cry, and she did because it hurt her so much to see him cry.

"S-Sh-he's g-go-o-ne," Kakashi hiccupped as he wrapped his arms around the small child. He never thought he would have found so much comfort in the arms of the little oddball. He did not want to tell her who was gone, but she deserved to know. "R-R-Rin's-s d-de-dead. I-I could-dn't sa-ve h-her."

Kim felt like something was stuck in her throat, and she could not breathe. She tightened her grip around him and buried her face in his shoulder. Tears fell from her eyes as she began to sniffle. Soon her soft whimpers turned into hiccupping sobs.

That was how Fugaku and Minato discovered them. For the first time in a while, Fugaku could not look at the young Hatake as a Sharingan thief. Minato was worried about his student's state of mind. There seemed to be even more pressing matters. The young girl's eyes were a vivid red with a single comma spinning wildly around her iris.


	5. Part 1: Sannin Hunting

Shortly after Minato and Fugaku had arrived on the scene, the red in the young child’s eyes faded back to its original ebony color. They carried Kakashi and Kimi back to Minato and Kushina’s home, although it was a bit of a challenge since Kakashi had refused to let the young girl out of his arms, and even after they had passed out from sheer emotional exhaustion they he still refused to let her go.

Fugaku and Minato sat at the dining room table in silence as they waited for their spouses. The two did not know what to make of the situation with the newest member of the Uchiha Clan. It had honestly surprised the two men to see a single tomo Sharingan in the girl’s eyes. As shinobi, they had been taught to expect the unexpected, but that was not something they even thought was possible. She was just too young. When Itachi had activated his Sharingan, he was four – two years older than Kimi.

Kushina and Mikoto entered the house through the window not wanting to waste time going up the stairs and through the door. Minato had sent out one of his toads summons to alert them to head over to the complex.

“Where are they? Are they okay,” the two women exclaimed in unison as they leapt through the same window. If they had been buff shinobi instead of lean Kunoichi, they would have been stuck. Seeing, as they were the latter they passed through with no problems.

“They’re in Kakashi’s room,” Minato answered calmly from where he was sitting across the table from Fugaku who was turning his empty cup of tea over in his hands.

The two women were about to race to the young boy’s room, when they were stopped.

“She activated her Sharingan,” Fugaku stated bluntly, placing the tea cup down on the table without a sound.

“What,” Kushina shouted in shock.

“How,” Mikoto asked only the slightest bit calmer than the redhead was.

“We,” Minato started, “don’t know how it’s even possible.”

“Only an Uchiha can activate the Sharingan. She has to have Uchiha blood in her for that to be possible,” the black haired man mused. He sighed as he ran a hand through his short dark brown locks. “But if anyone from the clan had given birth we would have known. The clan does not keep secrets. As clan head I would have been one of the firsts to know after the immediate family.”

“How do we know for sure if she activated the Sharingan,” Mikoto questioned. “It could have just been a trick of the light.” Her mind was racing trying to make sense of the puzzling situation.

“That’s what we thought at first,” the Yellow Flash stated leaning back in his chair.

“But when I channeled my chakra through her eyes, I was able to active it,” the Head of the Uchiha Clan explained. “The fact that she was able to retract it on her own is only something only an Uchiha can do.” There was something else niggling in the back of Fugaku’s mind. After staring at the unconscious girl’s chakra system with his Sharingan activated the niggling had only became stronger.

“We might need to take her to the hospital for a DNA test,” Kushina suggested.

“She’s right,” Mikoto agreed. “But it needs to be someone that we can trust to keep it all a secret in the meantime. Maybe Tsunade would be willing to help.”

“Tsunade refuses to return to the village,” Minato said with a sigh.

“Well then we’ll just go to her, dattebane,” Kushina stated with her fist clenched in the air and a fire burning in her eyes.

“We can say that we need to get the kids away after all that has happened, and seek her out,” the black haired beauty said, already making plans.

“Just so that we don’t end up having to search the entire continent, it would be best if we sought out Jiraiya-sensei first,” Minato suggested. “I’m pretty sure he keeps tabs on Tsunade’s whereabouts through his spy network. If I remember correctly, he said he had some business in Tanzaku Quarters. We might have to ask Orochimaru-sama just to be sure.”

“If I know Jiraiya-sensei then he’s probably prowling around a hot springs somewhere,” Mikoto commented causing Fugaku to scowl.

“So tomorrow we drag the brats out of the village, ttebane,” Kushina announced. “We should take them to our beach house. That way we can send them off with Kakashi to look after them while we discuss  _things_.”

“I still can’t believe you have a beach house,” Minato mumbled under his breath, and Fugaku had to agree with him. Their wives were definitely something else.

“I think it would be better if Minato and I headed out to Kumo,” Fugaku suggested. The women were about to protest. “When we reached out to the other villages, Kumo and Iwa were the only one not to respond. While I’m certain that Iwa wouldn’t try anything so soon after the war, I don’t know what to think of Kumo.”

“He’s right,” Minato agreed with his dark friend. “Kumo has been trying to get hold of the Byakugan, and who’s to say that they haven’t set their sights on the Sharingan.”

“That’s possible,” Mikoto agreed, “But that doesn’t explain where she came from. There are no records of her ever being born.”

“What if someone from the clan went missing,” Kushina said. “Or if they managed to somehow acquire Uchiha DNA. I don’t like making false accusations but Kumo is always trying to strengthen their ranks.”

“That’s what I was saying,” Fugaku said through gritted teeth. Mikoto placed a hand in his shoulder to calm him. His relationship with the redheaded Jinchuriki was… special.

Minato sweat dropped at his wife and best friend’s antics. “Well I’ve heard rumors about their failed attempts at trying to tame the Hachibi. That could be the reason they want the Sharingan. Maybe since Madara was able to tame the Kyuubi with his Sharingan-”

“No one is stupid enough to target the Uchiha clan,” Kushina stated cutting off her husband. “When would a good time be to go?”

They all sat in silence. They knew they would not be able to leave the village anytime soon. The threat of war was too high, and the village needed all of its Jonin on standby.

XxX

Three days after their group conversation, Minato arrived home just as the sun was beginning to set. A look of disbelief adorned his face as he slowly walked up the steps to the house he shared with his hot-tempered wife. His mind was replaying what had happened in the Hokage’s office. No matter how many time he thought over their conversation he just couldn’t believe what had just happened. The blonde man made it to the top of the stairs; he then walked the short distance to the front door where he paused in hesitation. He turned the knob and stepped into the mudroom. Removing his shoes he through the door that would lead him inside his house.

Inside the complex, a pot was boiling on the stove as his hot-tempered redheaded wife worked over a larger pot cutting potatoes humming a tune slightly off key but still the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He noticed the slight jump of her orange clad shoulders. A smile replaced his thoughtful expression as the woman turned around to face him with wide blue eyes.

“What are you doing there stalking around like a creeper, dattebane,” Kushina greeted with a smile on her face. Minato made a face that caused her to laugh. “What did Sandaime-sama want with you?”

“Well… You see-“

“Did you get in trouble,” the redhead mocked the blonde as she waved a chiding finger in his face. She closed her eyes as she made a show of shrugging her shoulders, not noticing her husband flinch to avoid getting hit by the ladle she held in her right hand. “So what? Don’t worry about it, dattebane!”

“Well it wasn’t that,” Minato said trailing off as he held a hand to his chin in a thinking pose.

Kushina stared at him as if silently telling him to get on with it. When that didn’t work since he had his eyes closed, she asked, “Then what?”

Opening his eyes, he said, “Well…” He pointed to himself with his thumb. “He wants me to be the Yondaime Hokage.”

The redhead had closed her eyes and had a grim look on her face. “Oh really? Don’t mind the Hokage-“ What her blonde husband said finally resonated in her mind. “What?! What did you just say?!” she shouted in his face – more like his nose.

Minato nodded at her. “I’ve been named the Yondaime Hokage.”

Kushina stared at him with wide eyes, before she shouted “Congratulations, dattebane!” as she tackled him in a hug. When she had her arms wrapped around his neck, she jumped up making Minato catch her in the process as she swung her legs back and forth in excitement.

“Hey! Hey,” Minato shouted in an attempt to calm down his wife while making a face that could only be described as  _weird._ His wife then released him from her grip. She took a few steps back and took a second to compose herself.

She looked up at him with a serious expression. “Thank you very much for all your hard work.”

In the same voice he replied, “Thank you.”

One week later-

Civilians and Shinobi of all ages conjugated before the Hokage tower.  They were about to witness the inauguration of the Yondaime Hokage. From where they were standing they could make out the distinguished forms of Hiashi Hyuuga, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Choza, Uchiha Fugaku, and Uzumaki Kushina standing behind Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura who were flanking the Sandaime Hokage. Namikaze Minato stood facing the Sandaime with his back towards the crowd.

Hiruzen was dressed in the Hokage robes his had positioned atop his head. Looking his successor in the eye, he lifted his hands to grip the sides of the Hokage hat and gently removed it from his head. He then passed the hat to the blonde haired man that stood before him and stepped back to watch him place the hat atop his own head with a small smile on his face.

Emotions were running high through Minato, though only two stood out the most. Anxiety: Was he going to make a good Hokage? Was he going to be able to live up to everyone’s expectations? Bliss: Everything he had worked for finally paid off, and he had finally achieved his dream of becoming Hokage.

Minato looked through the line-up of clan heads and council members atop the roof with him. Among the line-up were his best friend and the love of his life. Looking into his wife’s eyes, he saw nothing but happiness, pride, but most importantly, he saw love. The anxiety he felt before suddenly washed away, and he knew, in that moment, that he would be the best Hokage he could be. He snapped his attention back to the Sandaime when the man began to speak.

“I’m counting on you,” Hiruzen spoke. “Yondaime Hokage.”

“I shall dedicate my life to it,” the Namikaze spoke with confidence. He turned around to face the crowd and walked towards the railing of the tower. He pulled his hat off and held it in his hand on display to all who came.

He looked down upon the village he swore to protect for the first time as…

Yondaime Hokage.

XxX

Ten months later, they were finally able to spare the time to seek out Senju Tsunade. The night before Kushina suggested a game night where they could all eat junk food and play board or video games. She did it as a ploy to get Kakashi to stay the night in order to keep him from running away when they told him that he was going on a trip with them. It was also decided that Minato and Fugaku would stay behind in the village, considering the fact that it would raise eyebrows and look suspicious to others that the Yondaime Hokage and Uchiha Clan Head left the village together.

“Rise and shine Kakashi-kun,” Kushina shouted into the ear of the slumbering boy. She scowled when the white haired boy rolled over onto his side and buried his face into his pillow. “Kakashi don’t make me go get some chopsticks.” At that proclamation, the young Hatake’s eyes snapped wide open and he shot out of bed running straight to the conjoined bathroom.

“Kushina,” Minato groaned from the doorway.

“What? He didn’t want to get up, and I am not waiting three hours for him,” the red haired woman retorted walking past her husband and making her way into the kitchen.

“Kushina you’re so mean to that boy,” Mikoto chided her friend.

“Yeah well if I’m not then we would be leaving the village three hours later than what we planned,” the Uzumaki claimed, which in all honesty was the truth. “Look you picked up Kimi-chan this morning – the young girl had fallen asleep on Kakashi’s lap and no one had the heart to move her – got all of your things packed, went out and bought new swimsuits then came back here and helped me make breakfast, and the little idiot  _just_  got out of bed.”

“Whatever you say Kushi-chan,” Mikoto sang. She knew Kushina thought of the boy as a son and liked to pick on him by way of showing her affection. “Kim, Itachi hurry up and start eating before your food gets cold.”

The two did as told and picked up their chopsticks. As they were taking the first few bites of their breakfasts, Kakashi walked into the kitchen after his shower. He threw his packed bag on the floor by his chair at the table before plopping down on the seat. Mikoto wandered over and set down a plate in front of the boy.

“Alright everyone let’s get going,” Kushina announced. “We have to find an old pervert, a crazy drunk, and then we can finally reach our destination, ttebane.”

“Where are we going,” Kakashi asked poking at his omelet not really in the mood to eat, but still eating because a shinobi always needed to keep their energy up.

“Didn’t I just say that already,” Kushina growled out.

“I meant what is out destination,” the white haired boy stated with a bored look in his eyes.

“That is a secret,” Mikoto answered for him. She had told Itachi and Kim that where they were going was a surprise, and she did not want to ruin it for them.

“Why do I have to go,” the Hatake asked leaning back in his chair.

“It’ll be fun, and you haven’t had time to act like a kid in a while,” Kushina explained, unknowingly going into  _mommy mode,_  as Mikoto liked to call it _._  “Besides you could use the break. It’s a lot better than holding yourself up in your apartment and you would be able to get away from Gai and everyone else.”

Kakashi did not need to be with them while they searched for their answers, but Kushina and Minato had decided he needed the time away. When Obito had died, the boy had locked himself in his apartment for days. When Kushina had had enough, she broke down his front door to see a broken boy. He had not eaten or showered in the time he had been locked up. After that she carried the boy back to her and Minato’s apartment, and cared for him to the best of her ability. That was when she had discovered  _mommy mode_ for the first time _._ The young couple ended up giving their guest bedroom to the boy.

“We also need a sitter while we do a few things,” Mikoto added vaguely.

“Fine,” Kakashi grumbled. He let out a yelp when a hand hit the back of his head.

“You agree with her, and you give me a hard time,” the Red-Hot Habanero shouted.

“Don’t worry about it Kushina,” Minato tried to calm his wife’s anger. “He’s just trying to get on his girlfriend’s mother’s god side.” He snickered at the white haired boy’s obvious scowl. “Hey Kimi are we invited to the wedding?”

“Wats a wedding,” the two year old questioned. She cocked her head expectantly at Kakashi.

“Their crazy,” the boy muttered.  He looked at the little girl. “It’s nothing important.”

“He’s not marrying my Imouto,” Itachi cried giving Kakashi the fiercest glare he could muster.

“We’re getting married,” Kim asked the older boy. Kakashi turned red at the girl’s blunt question. His face brightened even further when the three adults began to laugh.

“What’s going on here,” Fugaku asked from the door. He had just arrived at the manor when he heard laughter from the outside.

“I guess it’s about time you five headed out,” Minato stated when he calmed down enough to speak. Fugaku raised an eyebrow at him, but he waved it off.

XxX

Minato and Fugaku stood by the entrance gates watching as the group of five departed from the village.

“Do you think they’ll be alright,” the blue-eyed man asked.

“Mikoto and Kushina are both Jonin level ninja, they can take care of themselves,” the onyx eyed man replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I know that,” Minato stated. “But I meant, do you think the kids will be alright with Kushina  _and_  Mikoto?”

“Your student is a capable ninja right?”

XxX

“What do you think they’re talking about,” the redhead asked her dark haired companion, as her head was twisted to look over her shoulder at the two men they had left behind.

“They’re probably saying we’re incapable of making it through this trip without causing some type of trouble,” answered Mikoto, as she watched her children walk ahead of her. Kakashi was walking slightly ahead of Itachi and Kim. Kim was also trying to hold Kakashi’s hand, while Itachi was glaring at the white haired boy.

“What?! Those jerks, dattebane,” Kushina whispered angrily.

“Well they do have reason to worry,” Mikoto put in. “Every mission we go on together, something always happens.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” The redhead gave a pause. “Well if anything Kakashi is a capable ninja.” Mikoto had to agree with her.

The group continued to walk for about an hour when Kushina had picked up Kim while Mikoto carried Itachi and they decided it would be faster if they ran. The three Jonin traveled at full speed through the dense forests of Hi no Kuni. They traveled throughout the morning hours until they finally reached the village of Tanzuka Quarters. Once inside the village Mikoto and Kushina left the children with Kakashi while they began their search for the Toad Sennin.

“I don’t like you,” Itachi stated bluntly to the young white haired Jonin. The jokes the adults made about Kakashi marrying his sister from that morning still rung clearly in his head fueling his dislike for the older boy – whom he once idolized.

“That’s not nice, Nii-san,” the two year old girl scolded her two year older brother.

“It’s alright Kim-chan,” Kakashi said to the little girl. He honestly did not care whether or not if the older of the two siblings liked him. Although the I’m-watching-you look the boy gave him made him sweat drop. He cleared his throat. “So what do you two want to do?”

The feeling was strange to Kakashi as he charted the younger children around the village. Kim was happily enjoying the sights and running around excitedly, while Itachi, true to his word, was keeping a trained eye on the Hatake even as he trailed after his sister. It was when he was trying to avoid making eye contact with the boy that Kakashi spotted a familiar white mane. The man that the hair belonged to was bent over at the waist and peeping through a small whole in a tall wooden fence that most likely belonged to a hot spring. The man also held a notepad in his hand and appeared to be taking notes. Kakashi slowly approached the man before coming to a stop right by his side.

“What are you doing,” the boy questioned in a monotone. He stared at the man as he jumped back in surprise. The white haired man was balancing on one foot with his arms raised in the air. When recognition dawned on the man he stood up right before pushing Kakashi out of the way and returning his eye to the whole in the wall. Kakashi let out a sigh of exasperation. “Kushina-san and Mikoto-san are looking for you.” That caused the white haired man to freeze.

“Did you say Kushina and Mikoto,” the man replied practically drooling at the thought of the two women together. Kakashi nodded in affirmative. “Well take me to them!”

“That won’t be necessary, Jiraiya-sensei,” Mikoto called out as she hopped down from the roof of the building she had been standing on and landing gracefully on her feet. Before leaving the village, the woman had exchanged her usual purple dress and apron for an eggplant colored vest that had a red and white fan printed on the back, a pair of black standardized ninja pants, and matching purple ninja shoes. “Kushina should be on her way.”

“I’m here, dattebane,” the fiery redhead exclaimed as she made her appearance. She too had changed out of her long green dress for something more suited for travel, which consisted of a pale yellow midriff shirt with three-quarter length sleeves, black standardized ninja pants, and black ninja shoes. The Uzumaki looked up at Jiraiya. “What’s up ya big pervert?”

“Ah Kushina you wound me,” the Sannin said in mock agony. He got over it quickly, and then stuck a pose. “I’m a SUPER pervert!”

“Mommy what’s a pervert,” Kim’s small voice called out to Mikoto as she ran over to the group with Itachi running beside her, and Kakashi trailing behind them.

“Kakashi’s a pervert,” Itachi muttered as he kicked up dirt in the Hatake’s direction. “He can’t find a girlfriend his own age and has to take my Imouto.” He pointed at the youngest Jonin. “He only has one eye like the monsters in the story. He’s a Cyclops.”

“Itachi-kun don’ be mean to Kashi,” Kim shouted before punching her brother in the stomach.

“Kim, Itachi don’t fight,” Mikoto scolded her children. “Kimi you don’t need to know what that word means and Itachi apologize to Kakashi for calling him names.” When her son made no move to apologize she grabbed him by the ear.

“Owww, ow, ow, ow, I’m sorry,” Itachi cried.

“So Mikoto and Fugaku spawned again,” Jiraiya commented as he watched the scene play out.

“We don’t spawn,” Mikoto shouted at her sensei.

“Yep they spawned again,” Kushina said laughing. “She really is your student Jiraiya. She can’t keep her hands off of the poor man! They’ll double the population of the village at this rate!”

“Kushina don’t say things like that in front of the children,” the black haired beauty yelled as she covered Itachi and Kim’s ears.

After that little scene, Jiraiya took the group back to the inn he was residing in. They once again sent Kakashi away with the kids while they remained in the room.

“You guys aren’t here to be inspiration for my next book are you,” the toad Sannin guessed as he sat down at the table in the room.

“Um, no,” Mikoto said not really knowing where to start.

“Look we need to, um, like find Tsunade,” Kushina said falling into her nervous habit. Mikoto decided to step in.

“She’s the only one we can trust with-“

“The little girl, right,” the Toad Sage asked. The women nodded. “I’ll make this easy on you. I just got word from one of my spies, and Tsunade was spotted somewhere in Tea Country. My bet is that she was hoping to participate in that poker tournament they’re holding. Just because I’m curious, I’ll take you there myself. I was heading that way anyways.”


	6. Part 1: Unexpected News

Soon after their chat with the white haired Toad Sennin, the two Kunoichi decided that it would be in their best interests if they were to spend the night in Tanzuka Quarters. When they had finished setting up their sleeping arrangements, they headed out to find Kakashi, Itachi, and Kim. They found young masked Jonin wandering around in search of them. The two women were amused to see him carrying the black haired girl while she slept peacefully, and the dark haired boy shooting him dirty looks.

“And here we thought Fugaku was going to be a problem,” the red haired woman joked while playfully nudging her friend with her elbow. Jiraiya seemed to be confused by the comment, but when he asked them, they would burst into fits of laughter.

Mikoto soon relieved the white haired boy of the small child after a bit of trouble. It would seem that Fugaku had not been over exaggerating when he had told her of the girl’s strong grip. Kim had gotten a hold of the boy’s facemask and refused to let go. It got to the point where Kakashi had no other choice than to remove the mask, albeit reluctantly. Kushina had somehow managed to remove the mask from the young girl’s grasp without waking her, and then giving it back to its owner after a bit of teasing on her part.

Returning to the inn, Kushina and Mikoto decided it would be better if they skipped the trip to the hot springs and opted to use the shower that came with their room, much to the Perverted Sannin’s dismay.

The next morning everyone had woken up early and decided to get an early start. After having had a quick breakfast and packing the, now group of six, began their trek to the Land of Tea, where hopefully the Slug Sannin was. The beginning of the trip was silent for the most part aside from Jiraiya’s perverted ways, Kushina’s loud outbursts, and Kim’s squeals of excitement whenever an animal appeared, and Itachi’s not-so-silent insults directed towards the older white haired boy. Actually the whole trip was rather loud, aside from Kakashi and Mikoto, but not so much the latter as the former.

“So Kakashi,” Jiraiya started catching the attention of said Jonin, who raised an eyebrow at him in question. “What’s this I hear about you having to watch out for Fugaku?” If Jiraiya’s interest was not piqued then, it was when Kakashi shot a withering glare at the two women of the group and Itachi started muttering darkly to himself. “What did you do? Did you get a glimpse of Mikoto in a state of undress? Can you give me a visual? I’m pretty sure if you got a look with that Sharingan of yours then you could describe the scene in perfect detail.”

Kakashi’s face had turned an unhealthy shade of red and changed from red to purple, then from purple to blue at the man’s accusations. Mikoto took to scolding the white haired man, while Kushina tried to get the white haired boy to return to his normal pallor.

“Sensei,” Mikoto sighed. “Kakashi would never use the Sharingan like that. He doesn’t have the dirty mind that you do.”

“Well then if that’s true, then we need to remedy that right away! The boy’s almost thirteen!” The entire group stopped to watch the man dig through his pack, before finally pulling out a little orange book. He held it out to Kakashi who gave him a strange look. “This is one of my finer pieces of literature.”

“No thanks,” Kakashi replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets, pivoting on his heel, and walking away leaving Jiraiya feeling as if he had been stabbed in the heart.

“He-He Wha-,” Jiraiya fumbled over his words as his mind tried to process what had just happened. He could not believe that someone had turned down Icha Icha Paradise. The idea was utterly preposterous. By the end of their trip he would make the Hatake Boy a believer.

The group reached the border of the Land of Fire by sundown. They stopped for a quick rest, and made their way towards a port village where they would be able to continue the next part of their trip by boat. The boat trip was calm. Jiraiya spent most of his time trying to make Kakashi a believer. Kushina had taken it upon herself to play dress up with the young female Uchiha, while Mikoto was playing darts with Itachi.

Night was one again upon them, and when they woke the next morning they had arrived at the Land of Tea. By noon, they had reached the last location where Tsunade had been sighted.

It was not hard to find the Slug Sannin. In the center of the village was a newly opened casino. True to rumor, they were holding a poker tournament. In the main room of the casino was a large stage where the tournament was taking place. On the right side of the green oval table sat a voluptuous blonde haired woman that looked no older than twenty years old. Standing off to the side of the woman in green was a dark haired woman holding a pink pig wearing a red vest and a pearl necklace.

“Tsunade-hime,” Jiraiya whispered to himself, although Kim had heard him. She stared at the blonde woman wonderstruck. That woman was a real princess like Jiraiya had told her, and she wanted to meet her, but she did not seem to act like the princesses her mother read to her about. She did not wear pretty poof-y dresses, like the ones in her book, but she did wear heels. Her hard eyes resembled nothing of the kind eyes in her book, but her shiny blonde hair reminded her of one of the princesses. Princesses were supposed to have impeccable manners and the way the blonde woman was knocking back drinks proved the opposite.

Kim pouted when a stranger stood in front of her blocking the woman from view. She turned around to see that her mother, aunt, and the weird man had left yet again leaving her and her brother in the care of Kakashi. She pulled on his shirt to get his attention since he could not hear her over the noise at least that is what she thought. The white haired boy looked down at her with a bored expression, and she motioned for him to pick her up, which he did. He placed the small child on his shoulders and held onto her legs as she fisted her hands in his hair.

Kakashi knew the drill, and looked after the children. He decided to take out to for lunch when the tournament called for a lunch break. He was quite curious as to why they needed Tsunade. She was a renowned, if not the best, medic-nin. The only thing that he could think of was if either Kim or Itachi were sick, and they needed her. His heart clenched at the thought of either one of them being sick. He had recently lost his teammate, and he rarely had time to think about it too often because he was always stuck on babysitting duty, although he was quite thankful for it – when Itachi was not glaring at him. His mind never really had time to wander since Kim was always up to something and causing mischief.

“Are you two hungry,” the white haired boy asked his charges before leading them out of the casino. He received a quiet yes from the girl on his shoulders, and a glare and a slight nod from the boy standing beside him.

The group of three wandered in the opposite direction of the casino. They walked up and down the main road – Kakashi making sure to never stray too far away from the casino. Every restaurant that Kakashi had taken them to, Itachi always found a reason to leave. The white haired teen ended up getting frustrated with the four-year-old boy and dragged his charges into a random cafe.

The café was nothing fancy and rather modern looking. Round tables lined the walls of the room – excluding the far back wall where the bar was located – and four tall stools were positioned at each table. Regular dark brown square tables filled up the main floor. The walls were painted a pastel pink, the windows were covered by mint colored curtains, and a few painting of cherry blossom trees in bloom were scatter along the walls. Teenagers, children, adults, and a few passing shinobi littered the café.

Kimi, who was now walking on her own, led Kakashi and her older brother towards one of the round tables that was positioned by a window. Kakashi had to help her up onto the stool closest to the window. Itachi sat next to Kimi leaving a chair between him and Kakashi who sat on the other side of the young girl.

“Hello welcome to the Sakura Café,” a bright and cheery voice greeted the trio. Kakashi couldn’t help the snort that escaped him when he heard the very fitting name of the café. When he looked up from the small girl when he was sure she would not fall off her stool he had to hold back a groan. Their waitress – who was dressed in a skimpy beige maid’s uniform with pink frills – was practically drooling with hearts in her eyes at the sight of him. “Here are your menus.” She placed three menus in front of the white haired preteen. Leaning forward and fluttering her eyelashes she asked, “What would you like to drink?”

“I’ll have a cola,” he stated in a disinterested monotone. He pointed to Kimi, “She’ll have an orange soda, and he,” pointing to Itachi, “will have a green tea.”

The girl jotted down their orders and sent a flirtatious smile in the Hatake’s direction before skipping off to the bar to get their drinks.

“Kashi-kun,” Kimi called out in a small voice. “I’m not feeling so good. Can we go find mommy?”

“You’ll feel better after you eat something,” Kakashi said patiently to the girl as he ruffled her hair. He knew she was probably feeling fatigue from lack of nutrition. He jerked back when he felt a sharp pain on his shin. He snapped his head in the direction of the girl’s older sibling. The dark haired boy appeared to be innocently reading his menu. He let the kick slide as he turned back to face the dark haired girl to help her decide on what to order.

“Here are your drinks,” the perky green haired waitress chirped as she placed the drinks on the table. Placing her hand on Kakashi’s shoulder she asked in a low voice, “What would you like to order.” It was like she was hoping he would say ‘you with a side of whipped cream.’

“I’ll have a plate those fruity dango,” Itachi ordered.

“Itachi you have to order real food,” Kakashi stated causing the boy to glare at him. “Or do you want your sister to copy you and only eat sweets?” The white haired preteen knew of the war to get Itachi to eat actual food instead of sweets. The young Uchiha boy had a sweet tooth and would always pass up on eating normal to eat some type of sweet instead. He heard from Minato that Fugaku had once found a stash of assorted chocolates, pocky, and other candies hidden under the boy’s bed. He let out a chuckle at the younger boy’s worried expression. The smile fell from his face when he heard their waitress squealing about how caring he was.

“I’ll have some onigiri with seaweed and miso soup instead,” Itachi amended.

“I’ll have a bowl of miso soup with eggplant and grilled saury.” He looked over to the small girl. She didn’t know how to say it so she pointed it out to the white haired boy. “She’ll have egg fried rice with breaded pork cutlets.” Kakashi quickly handed the menus over to the green haired girl in hopes that she would leave.

Soon the waitress came back with their food. They ate quickly, ordered some fruity dango and a slice of chocolate cake, paid, and left.

“Thank you, come again,” their green haired waitress called after them from the entranceway.

“Bye, Bye twollop,” Kimi called out to the teen. The green haired girl’s face turned an unflattering shade of red, and Kakashi burst out laughing.

XxX

“Talk,” was all the Slug Sannin said as she stared at the group of three consisting of her ex-teammate, his former student, and his other former student’s wife. They had all shown up in the middle of the tournament. They had approached her after she had won the last hand before they called for a lunch break.

“My daughter,” Mikoto started.

“You spawned again,” Tsunade questioned with a raised eyebrow. Mikoto gave a sigh. “I thought it would have taken a little longer especially after your miscarriage.”

Mikoto stopped talking not knowing how to continue.

“You see, like, the kid got closed to one of Minato’s student, and she recently passed,” Kushina tacked on.

“I guess the pain of losing someone so close to her triggered the activation of her Sharingan,” Mikoto finished ready for the onslaught of questions she knew were coming.

“Well that’s not bad,” Tsunade stated not really understanding.

“Hime the kid’s barely two years old,” Jiraiya added.

“No Uchiha has ever activated their Sharingan that early before. Well the earliest was Itachi almost six months ago,” the Uchiha explained.

“So what,” Tsunade questioned not really understanding what the problem was. “The Uchiha Clan is going to have another genius. I don’t really see a problem here.”

“Then there’s also the fact that Kim is, like, adopted and shouldn’t have been able to activate it in the first place, ttebane,” the redhead said.

Kushina’s last statement caused both Jiraiya and Tsunade to freeze.

“You’re the only one I could trust with this. We don’t know what to do. It’s not possible. No one in the Uchiha Clan has or had a daughter her age. I don’t even know what to think,” Mikoto rambled frantically only stopping when Tsunade held up a hand.

“Is there anywhere private we could go,” the Slug Princess spoke calmly. “Somewhere we won’t accidentally be overheard.” Mikoto and Kushina nodded. “Right, we should head out right away and travel through the night.

XxX

The rest of the day and all the night pass by in a blur. Itachi and Kimi were being carried while the four high-ranking ninja traveled at full speed. They traveled from Tea Country back to Fire Country, and it was not long until they reached a port where they rented a boat. They traveled about two more hours before they reached a small island in the Hanguri Gulf between the Fire Country and Tea Country. They docked the ship at the private dock, and made their way into the mansion-like beach house.

“Mommy where are we,” Kim and Itachi asked.

“This is Mommy’s and Aunty Kushina’s private island getaway,” Mikoto explained with a small smile on her face.

“This will make a great plot for my next book,” the Perverted Sannin stated as her pulled out his notepad to write a few things down while muttering things to himself.

“Why do you two have a private island,” Kakashi asked out of curiosity.

“Well you see, Kakashi.” The redheaded woman was at a loss. Pointing at the dark haired woman she shouted, “Mikoto’s crazy!”

“Hey,” the accused crazy woman shouted. “It was your idea!”

“You see Kakashi-kun,” Kushina said with a smile. “We were on a mission a few years ago, like, before Itachi was even thought of and we were married. While on that mission we had to go and help this Lord person. Apparently Mikoto looked a lot like his daughter and she had to impersonate her. You see, at the time I was playing around with a few new seals, and I sealed away Miko-chan’s chakra. Like always, something bad has to happen and she got kidnapped by some crazies, and taken to some remote island. I – the caring best friend I am – went to look for her. When I got to the bigger island west of here, some of the natives tried to detain me for trespassing, but I got passed them. So I unsealed Miko’s chakra, and we kicked ass together. Apparently, those idiots that kidnapped her had been causing trouble here, but no one had been able to get rid of them. They were so thankful they gave us this island!”

Everyone was giving Mikoto and Kushina strange looks.

“Kakashi,” Jiraiya called. “Why don’t you take the kids out to play at the beach?” The boy nodded, and ushered the children away from the crazies.

“Mikoto was that story true,” Tsunade asked.

“Sadly yes,” the questioned woman answered.

“Let’s head inside to discuss things further,” the blonde suggested. “I don’t want that brat Kakashi overhearing anything.” She talked as she walked. “Did you get the samples I needed?”

“I got them while she was sleeping,” Mikoto stated as she took a seat in the living room. She pulled out two glass tubes out of her purple vest. In one vial were a few strands of long ebony colored hair. The other was filled with a dark red liquid that almost appeared black. She handed the labeled tubes over to the blonde Sannin. “How long will it take?”

“It shouldn’t take too long,” Tsunade murmured as she pulled out a few scrolls. She dabbed a drop of blood onto the center of a seal, and watched for any strange reactions; there were none. She dropped a strand of hair in a solution she had mixed, but there were no strange reactions. “Well there aren’t mutations or anything wrong with her. She’s a perfectly healthy child.” On a whim Tsunade poked Mikoto with a needle drawing blood and then dabbing it on the paper before comparing it to the other blood sample. Her warm brown eyes were beginning to widen. She mixed the two blood samples together, and her eyes grew even wider. “Mikoto it’s a perfect match.”

“What,” the black haired beauty questioned. “How could it be a perfect match? We adopted her!” Mikoto was visibly shaking.

“The DNA doesn’t lie,” the blonde Sannin stated. “That girl is somehow yours.”

“But I – She can’t – We never – My last baby died, she would have been the same age as her, It’s not possible!”

“Is it possible that it could be her?  If it is, then how,” Kushina asked in a quiet voice as she held her nearly hysterical best friend. “I was there that day, she had no heartbeat. The doctors did everything they could.”

Jiraiya suddenly spoke up. “It’s possible that it is her. I remember that the Nidaime was working on a jutsu that could possibly resurrect the dead. Maybe someone managed to get a hold of it.” The three women stared at him. “About two years ago Orochimaru and I caught someone suspicious leaving the village. We were never able to get a good look at him, but he did have a large build. We followed him towards the border before we lost him. It happened sometime in May on the fourteenth. Whoever that guy was, he was able to resurrect her. Maybe he was after the Sharingan.

“That’s when we she was born,” Mikoto whispered. She had her neck craned to look out the window at the dark haired little girl that was playing on the shore with the two boys.

“Why would they bring her back,” Kushina asked confused.

“I don’t really understand that part either,” the white haired man stated. “Maybe it has to do with the fact that she’s a girl and that chances of the Sharingan appearing in girl has always been extremely rare.”

“Well if whoever that is wants a baby with the Sharingan, then you better be careful Mikoto,” Tsunade warned. “You’re pregnant, about five months actually, and I get the feeling that this one’s a boy.”

The Uchiha matriarch promptly fainted.


	7. Part 1: Manipulation and Gardens

__

“I wan’na learn to swim,” the dark haired girl shouted as she watched her older brother splash around in the small waves. The girl was using her bright yellow plastic bucket as a hat. She turned to give her white haired babysitter a pleading look making sure to jut out her bottom lip.

“You can learn later in the pool. I don’t want to end up losing you to the current,” Kakashi said sighing as he saw that she was yet again wearing her bucket as a helmet even after he had told her not to. “Your head’s going to get stuck in there.” She replied by sticking her tongue out at him before running off.

“Les go find she-sells,” she shouted, “and stahfish and little cwabs and fishies!”

Itachi, having heard her exclamation, ran out of the water in her direction, but not after shooting the white haired boy a dark glare. Kakashi sweat dropped at the boy’s antics. He had only just noticed Itachi’s dislike towards him when they had made the first stop on their little sabbatical. He had been around the boy since he was born, but he had never acted that way towards him, he always seemed to admire and look up to him. It was not until after his sister came into the picture that his attitude towards him changed. Well if anything, he thought it was cute they he was a little overprotective of her, but the boy would be in hell when she grew up. He would have to deal with all the other boys trying to flirt with his little sister and win her affections. Kakashi gave a smirk. Not only was Itachi an Uchiha, he was already considered a prodigy and he had not even attended the Academy yet. Yes, Kakashi truly felt sorry for the  _idiot_  that fell in love with Uchiha Itachi’s little sister.

“Kim, Kim,” Kakashi yelled when he caught sight of the girl. Her bucket had fallen over her head as she was running and it refused to come off. The bucket not coming off was not the reason he was worried, it was the fact that she was to close the water for comfort. “I told you the bucket’s not a helmet!”

By the time he reached the little girl she had tripped and fell into the water. He bent down and made her sit in the shallow waters that only reached up to her waist. He put his hands on the bucket and pulled. Nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. Sighing, he placed his hands on the bucket a third time and began to shake it. He shook harder when he noticed that her head was starting to slip out. With a final shake Kim’s head slipped out of the yellow bucket. With a plop she landed back in the water with a grin on her face.

“Can we swim now,” she asked cutely. Kakashi gave in and lifted the girl from the water, ignoring the other child’s glare, and made his way to the beach house in the direction of the underground swimming pool.

When the trio walked past the front door they were ambushed by a purple blur. The purple blur turned out to be none other than Uchiha Mikoto. The woman had wrapped her arms around them and Kakashi squirmed to get out of the woman’s hold. Once free he stumbled into Kushina who had one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen on her face, her smile was bigger than the one she had when Minato had proposed to her and then the one she wore on her wedding day. Before he could even react the red haired woman had thrown her arms around him.

Standing at the entranceway to the part of the house that opened up to the beach were Tsunade and Jiraiya. They were enjoying the little scene that played out before them.

Waggling his eyebrows suggestively, Jiraiya said, “You know Hime-“

“Don’t even think about it,” Tsunade growled raising a fist at the man in warning. She already knew what he was going to suggest something weird, and she really did not want to hear it.

“K-Kushina-san,” Kakashi wheezed. “I can’t breathe.”

“We’re pregnant,” the two women exclaimed as they jumped up and down. “We’re going to do La Mas together! Our baby boys will be best friends!”

“Kashi-kun is dying,” Kim shouted seeing the boy’s face turning blue before going limp. “I can fix him!” She jumped out of her mother’s arms, pulled the one eyed boy out of the redhead’s arms, and struggled to lay him on the floor. She pulled off his mask and began to shake him furiously. “I know what I’m doing; I’m a medic in training.” She continued to shake the boy awake. “Wake up Kashi-teme!”

“What did you call me,” Kakashi gasped out when the girl hit him on the chest.

“It’s what that  _big meanie_  Genma calls you,” she replied innocently. Kushina and Jiraiya had burst out laughing, Tsunade wore a smile on her face, Itachi had smirk, and Mikoto had a disapproving look.

“If he’s mean to you then why would you call me something he calls me,” Kakashi asked confused. When Kim had first met Genma she had been excited to meet another one of Kakashi’s friends, but Genma was less than amused and took an immediate disliking towards her. The feeling was mutual, seeing as the Uchiha girl did not like him either.

“So Kim you want to be a medic,” Tsunade said casually as she walked over with her arms crossed.

“Yes, but my Shishou-“She stopped talking not wanting to remember.

“Well I happen to be a medic-nin myself,” Tsunade stated. She wore a proud smirk as she stated, “I was the one who came up with the medic-nin guidelines.”

“You’we my wival now,” the young Uchiha girl declared suddenly pointing a finger at the blonde Sannin. That was the moment Kakashi regretted letting Kim meet Gai, although she did not meet him directly, but from a distance. Gai was still in the dark of the girl’s existence, and he planned to keep it that way.

“Really know brat. Well, when you’re a full-fledged ninja come and find me,” Tsunade offered. “Then we’ll see if you’re worthy enough to be my rival. Deal?”

“Deal,” Kim stated.

The rest of the week came and went. Kim learned how to swim, Itachi glared at the young white haired Jonin, Kakashi played babysitter, Jiraiya kept trying to make the young Jonin a believer while peeping on the women, Mikoto and Kushina were making plans, and Tsunade was getting drunk and teaching the children how to play poker. Before they knew it, Tsunade broke off from the group, and the rest made their way back to the Hidden Leaf.

XxX

“Lover,” Kushina shouted as she jumped through the window of the Hokage Tower. She managed to scare three Genin and their Jonin Sensei in the process. Turning a fierce glare on the quartet, she pointed a finger at the door and shout, “Get out!” which they obeyed and scrambled out of the office.

“Kushina,” Minato gasped as the air was knocked out of him when his wife tackled him. He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her. The redhead then settled herself into a more comfortable position on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, then placing a long sensual kiss upon his lips, which the blonde all too willingly returned.

“Call Fugaku,” she yelled in his ear after their  _little session_. “We have great, amazing, wonderful news, dattebane!”

“Call me for what,” Fugaku said standing up from where he had been lazily lounging in a chair Minato had added in his office. His head snapped up to face the door when he heard it open.

“Daddy, Daddy we’re going to get baby brothers,” Itachi and Kim shouted as they raced over towards their father. Their father had frozen when his mind registered what they had shouted.

“Twins,” the Head of the Uchiha Clan managed to get out. His wife shook her head and held up a single finger, which confused her husband.

“I’m pregnant,” Kushina shouted with a blinding smile on her face. Minato Namikaze the Yondaime Hokage was at a loss for words. A smile soon broke out on his face and he picked his wife up from around her waist and spun her around. He stopped suddenly as a look of panic washed over his features.

“Ah! I’m sorry did I hurt you? Did I hurt the baby,” he asked in fear.

“Minato you moron,” his wife shouted as she hit him over the head. “I’m not going to break!”

“Where do babies come from,” Kim questioned stopping the adults from celebrating.

“Where do they come from,” Itachi asked looking at the adults. Kakashi on the other hand was smirking and trying to stifle a laugh at the turn of events.

“They come from the pumpkin patch,” Kushina stated.

“They come from the tomato garden,” Mikoto said at the same time as Kushina.

“How far along are you two,” Fugaku asked changing the subject.

“Well Tsunade said that I was about five months along,” the black haired woman answered.

Minato turned to Kushina who answered, “Two months.”

“What about the thing we talked about,” Fugaku asked looking down at his wife.

“She’s ours,” Mikoto whispered into his chest as she began to cry as he husband wrapped his arms around her. “Tsunade ran all the tests and she’s biologically ours.”

“How,” was all Fugaku could get out. He stared at the dark haired girl. His little girl. His  _daughter_.

“Jiraiya-sensei has an idea of who it might have been,” said Mikoto in a breathy tone. “He said that he and Orochimaru had spotted someone suspicious fleeing the village the same night she was born while on watch duty.” The woman then launched into detail. From the Nidaime’s Edo Tenshi to their thoughts on why they would bring her back. She left no detail out no matter how little. She also wanted Kakashi to hear it just in case he ever came back for Kimi and they weren’t there to protect her. “She’s ours Fugaku. Everyone was able to see her resemblance to us. I knew I loved her the moment I saw her – well after I calmed down. I knew our connection went much deeper than that, and it does. She is really ours. It doesn’t matter how she’s alive or if Sensei’s theory is correct, because all that matters is that she’s here with us alive.”

The two men were silent, not knowing what to say.

“So I didn’t imagine it when she activated the Sharingan,” Kakashi whispered not wanting either Kim or Itachi to hear. The four more experienced ninja stared at him. He looked at the floor. “I thought I was just imagining things. I mean… I thought I had imagined Obito for a second.” He looked up at the four, and then looked back at the girl. “I’d promise to protect her, but coming from me it’s all a lie and means nothing… even if I’m in ANBU.”

“Kakashi-kun that’s not true,” Minato tried to say but the boy had jumped out the window.

“Kakashi is strong he’ll get through it,” Fugaku said shocking everyone in the room. He saw no point in holding a grudge against the boy. His daughter had a strange attachment to him, and his son looked up to him. Minato was his trusted friend and Kakashi was his student, he guessed he could trust the boy.

Kim was confused. First her mother tells her she is her daughter, but was she not already her daughter? Then Kakashi mumbled something she could not hear, and got sad before he jumped out of the window. And what’s an ANBU?

While the adults were talking in hushed tones, Kim and Itachi silently snuck out of the office. The two walked down the hall, and then down the flight of stairs, although Kimi had a little trouble but she managed with her brother’s help. They held hands as they walked down the streets in search of the missing white haired Jonin.

The Uchiha Siblings came across an odd couple. The woman had blonde hair and angry eyes that were directed at her husband. He husband had an odd hairstyle and his hair was a dull pink.

“Oh are you two lost,” the woman asked crouching down to the children’s level with some difficulty due to her enlarged midsection. The two dark haired children shook their heads. They were growing impatient when the woman continued to talk about nonsense. All they wanted to do was find Kakashi, but the woman just would not stop talking. “I’m Mebuki, what are your names?”

“I’m Itachi and this is my Imouto Kimi,” the older of the two siblings replied. No matter how much they wanted to get away, their mother would have their heads on a silver platter if they were rude. Even when she was not around it was as if she could sense their rudeness, and then would punish them accordingly.

“Oh what lovely names,” the woman gushed. She placed her hands gently on her inflated stomach. “I hope I can think of a nice name for my daughter. I only have about a month left before she gets here.”

“Whewe do babies come fwom,” the almost two year old asked tilting her head to the side innocently.

The adults appeared to be flustered by the young girl’s question.

“Well you see,” the man spoke nervously. His wife was giving him a look that said don’t-you-dare-scar-these-children-with-your-lame-puns. “Babies come from the cherry blossom trees. When spring comes the flowers will bloom, and when the petals open there will be a new baby.”

“We came fwom a flowew,” Kim questioned not really believing it. First Shisui tells them that babies come from a giant white bird called a stork, and her Aunty Kushina told her they came from the pumpkin patch, then her mother said they came from the tomato garden. Now this man was telling her they came from cherry blossom trees!

“Ah! Well look at the time,” Mebuki stated looking at her wrist. “I’m late for my check-up at the hospital. It was really nice meeting you two, but we must get going.” With that the couple made their way in the opposite direction of the hospital. In the distance the two could hear shouts of, “Seriously? From a cherry blossom tree! Cherry blossoms! Kizashi, we should name her Sakura!”

“Baby brother and Sakuwa-chan will be bestests fwiends,” Kim declared smartly hitting her fist in her open palm.

“Did you ask that question on purpose,” Itachi asked his sister with wide eyes. She gave him a smile before innocently skipping away. “Imouto’s good.”

“Why won’t they tell us whewe babies come fwom,” the dark haired girl asked. Her brother shrugged.

“We can always ask Shisui,” he said simply. “I ask him about things all the time. He even said he learned where babies came from when he snuck on a mission with Uncle Kagami.”

The two then continued their search for the white haired Jonin. Their search ended when their parents found them.

XxX

Kakashi remained unseen for the next two weeks, and Kim had been the one to find him, while she was wandering around in the forested area of the Uchiha District after some of the other children in the clan had chased her off. He had been traveling through the outskirts of the village trying to remain unseen after returning from a mission. She had been lying in the center of a clearing, when he had broken through the surrounding trees. The white haired boy was surprised to see her there, and even more surprised to see her alone.

“What are you doing here,” he called out to the little girl. She then lifted her arm up and pointed towards the sky.

“Watching the fluffy kitty,” she said.

Kakashi shook his head and made his way over to her. Standing beside her he asked, “Why are you alone?”

“The othew kids wewe being mean, and I got lost. “ She shrugged her shoulders as if other children being mean to her was nothing out of the ordinary. Kakashi crouched down.

“Why were they being mean,” he asked. She shrugged her shoulders again because in all honesty she did not know why. “When did they start being mean to you?”

“The day aftew we got home,” she replied.

Kakashi did not need to hear any more. The day they got back to the village from their little vacation, Fugaku had called a clan meeting. There were no secrets kept within the Uchiha Clan, and Kim’s origins were not an exception, although no one had expected the clan to have negative reactions towards the girl. Some even suggested the girl should be executed, since they did not know if she was a possible threat. Most of the clan refused to accept her as a part of the Uchiha Clan and refused to be in the same room as her. However, they did allow her to use the clan name, so as not to raise questions, but her relations to the main family had to be kept a secret. The reaction had been even worse when they found out that the girl was the youngest in the history of the clan to activate the Sharingan. The amount of people who accepted Kim, well, he could count them on one hand; two, when her brother was born. The parents dislike towards the girl must have spread to the children.

“I wan’na make a gawden,” Kim said suddenly as she jumped to her feet. “Will you help me?”

Kakashi did not know how she could smile even when it seemed like everyone hated her. She still smiled at everyone and was her usual cheerful self. She was either ignorant or was killing them with kindness. Then again the girl was like the second coming of Kushina and Mikoto so he assumed it was the latter.

“You don’t make a garden. You plant and grow a garden,” Kakashi corrected.

“Can we get a thing where the water goes-“She then proceeded to make hand gestures trying to explain what she wanted. She had seen a picture of it in one of her mother’s gardening magazines.

“You mean a waterfall,” Kakashi guessed.

“Yes!”

“How would we do that?”

“With youw jutsu!”

Kakashi was about to say no and begin a lecture about abusing jutsu, but then he looked into her wide eyes and found himself forming the hand seals for a rock wall. Why did Uchiha children have such big eyes? Was it so they can practice manipulating people before they learned to use their Sharingan? That had to be the reason. That or it was just her, because he could not see himself doing the same for Itachi. A few more earth jutsu and some water jutsu later, the waterfall was completed and Kakashi was exhausted.

“It’s so pwetty,” the two year old shouted as she stared at the magnificent sight. “Thank you, thank you, thanks you,” she repeated over and over as she gave Kakashi the biggest hug she could muster. She released him from her grasp and stood up straight. “We need flowews!”

Kakashi groaned and considered drowning himself in the base of the waterfall, but was pulled out of his thoughts when Kim started to drag him along. Heaven forbid any of his former classmate seeing him being bossed around by a girl three times smaller than he was, and he had not been that tall to begin with. Oh how the mighty have fallen. The white haired boy soon found himself visiting the Yamanaka Flower Shop with an excited almost three year old. After she bought everything she wanted they headed back to the clearing.

While they were working on the garden, Kim had started to give Kakashi a single white carnation every day, much to his confusion, but he accepted them all the same. He would shake his head and then accept them. It reminded him of the time when she had distracted him during a spar and he had gotten hurt, and then to make him feel better she kissed him and gave him a carnation. He then learned that carnations are symbolic flowers from a book the girl had been trying, and failing, to read about flowers and their meanings.  _Carnations in general symbolize bonds of affection, health and energy, along with fascination and love._  He knew known that the girl was fascinated by him for a reason he did not know and that their bond was a weird one.  _White carnations symbolize sweetness and loveliness, and also innocence and pure love._  He knew she was kind even to those who shunned her, and she was innocent in every meaning of the word. The white carnation really was the perfect flower to represent the young female Uchiha.

Six weeks later on Kim’s official third birthday in May, the two stood back with Mikoto, Fugaku, Itachi, Kushina, Minato, and Shisui and looked at their creation. Jiraiya had been there earlier, but he ran off after getting hit with inspiration and a patented Uchiha Glare by Fugaku.

The waterfall rested at the line of the trees. With the help of a few earth jutsu he had created a pile up of large stones and a medium sized crater that fanned out from underneath the rock pile. They had placed large gray stones around the edge of the base. With the help of a water jutsu and dumb luck, Kakashi had found an underground source of water and the waterfall came to life with clear blue water. On the opposite side of the rather large clearing Kim had planted her flower garden. The garden was nothing more than a crescent shaped patch of dirt fore she had wanted to plant seeds and watch them as they grew. She had planted an entire garden of white carnations. No matter how many times Kakashi had told her a flower garden would need more than one type of flower she persisted, and won in the end after she had started crying. Kim had decided that the clearing needed more trees, and planted baby cherry and apple trees, one of each on either sides of the crescent shaped garden.

With Kim’s help Kakashi was able to deal with the loss of Rin, and she prevented him from going into a long period of depression like the one he had fallen into with the loss of Obito. The pain of losing a loved one never truly goes away, but she was able dull the ache and remind him that he still had other people to live for and that Rin would not have wanted him to stop living his life on account of her.

“Awww Kakashi-kun,” Kushina cooed, “You helped your girlfriend do all this.”

“Girlfriend,” Fugaku sputtered shooting a hard glare at the young Hatake. Kushina and Mikoto snickered; Itachi smirked hoping for the worst, and Minato’s face met the palm of his own hand. Kim was ignorant of the entire situation as she ate her slice of chocolate cake.


	8. Part 1: Lessons and New Additions

It had been decided after about four days of arguing with the clan head of the Uchiha clan that the young Uchiha girl would start learning how to mold chakra properly. Fugaku had been against the idea of his precious little girl becoming a ninja where she would be guaranteed injuries of all sorts and potentially be killed, but Mikoto had lost her patience and forcefully changed her husband’s mind, although he says he only let her begin ninja training to fend off boys like the, so called, Copy Ninja.

Mikoto and Kushina had wanted to teach the young girl the basics of ninja training, but due to their pregnancies they were unable to teach her anything physical. They had left the physical training to their husbands, Minato more so than Fugaku. Mikoto did not trust Fugaku when it came to their daughter’s ninja training, and worried for the young Hatake’s safety.  Instead the two women would go over the basics of Kunoichi lessons.

“Alright, sweetheart,” the dark haired woman said catching the attention of her daughter. The three of them – Mikoto, Kushina, and Kim – were sitting on a blanket in the garden in the woods. “As women we are generally smaller than men, and that sometimes puts us at a disadvantage.”

“But that does not mean we are weaker than the men, dattebane,” Kushina added. “I just means we have to use our  _girly-ness_  to our advantage.”

“A Kunoichi is most commonly a female ninja who uses their sexuality, or  _girly-ness_ , to take down our enemies. As a Kunoichi we have to take care of not only our ninja skills, but our physical appearances as well,” Mikoto went on.

“We have to work extra hard to make sure we don’t get to many visible scars. Some boys and girls might say you’re weaker because you pay more attention to your appearance, but always remember your physical appearance can be one of your greatest weapons if you use it right. Sometimes even the strongest of men are helpless when it comes to dealing with a woman in tears,” the redhead explained with a smirk.

“Exactly,” Mikoto agreed with a smile of her own. “As much as it pains me to say it, but men will most likely drop their guards when they think you’re just a harmless little girl. So in addition to the regular ninja training, we have to basically stay pretty.” She took a deep breath. “There will come a day when you get sent out on a mission where you have to seduce your target or you need to make an escape, and that is when your appearance comes into play.”

“What does seduce mean,” the young girl questioned when the lesson got to a term she did not understand.

“You will understand when you’re older,” her mother replied not wanting to get into that topic with her two-year-old daughter just yet. “Also when you need to go undercover, you can take on the disguise of just about anything. In whatever you disguise yourself as you can hide your weapons in your outfit, like if you have long sleeves or are wearing a belt. I even once hid a few senbon in the heel of a pair of high heels. Your Aunty and I even created a nail polish that has poison in it. So if you grow your nails out a little bit then you can scratch your enemy and the nail polish once it comes into direct contact with their blood it will cause them a lot of pain.”

“Your hair is another thing, ttebane,” Kushina stated holding up a finger pointing at the little girl’s messy black hair. “Many men like long hair. Again some boys and girls will say it gets in the way, but it’s important to your image as a Kunoichi. Also if a ninja lets something as simple such as the length of their hair hinder their abilities, then they have no right to be called a ninja. Some of the strongest ninja have had long hair such as the two founders of this village Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. Me and your mother also have long hair, but we don’t let that get in our way, dattebane! Make sure you always wash and brush it so that it stays soft and smells good.”

“Your skin is the most important,” Mikoto pointed out, and Kushina nodded. “You need to try your best to not get many scars, but that does not mean you should not help a comrade in need just to avoid getting them,” she stated in a stern voice. Kim nodded in understanding. Even though she was so young she already knew she would risk anything if it meant she protected the people she cared about. The two women smiled at her. “You will need to use whatever lotions you like when you get older so that your skin stays soft to the touch. You’ll need to make sure to wash your face before you got to bed, and after you wake up. Never use a lot of makeup, not only is it bad for your skin, but it will make you look cheap.”

“Sadly we know a few girls who let all this must-keep-our-appearances thing go to their heads and got themselves killed because they were vain and skipped out on training,” the red haired woman said sadly. “Never become like them. Yes your appearance is important, but never let that get in the way of your training. Your training as a ninja will always come first, and you will manage your personal grooming in your free time.”

The little girl nodded her head eager to hear more. She had moved from her crossed leg position to lay on her stomach with her head propped up by her hands.

“Another important thing for Kunoichi to learn are things like making flower arrangements, sewing, cooking, proper etiquette or playing an instrument. All these things might seem like chores or meaningless but they will help you if you ever need to go undercover,” the dark eyed woman explained. “But as my daughter you will learn how to cook whether you want to or not.” Kim gave a slight pout and hung her head. “And as an Uchiha, you will have proper etiquette drilled into you.” She allowed her arms and head to fall onto the blanket. “Your brother plays the piano and violin so maybe he could teach you.” Kim’s head snapped up and her eyes brightened at the last part.

“The last topic for today’s lesson is,” Kushina paused making the little girl lean forward in anticipation,” How to mess with the enemy’s emotions. You’re going to need to learn how to manipulate them and get inside their heads, but you will learn how to do that later.”

“So did you get all that,” the women asked in unison.

“I got it,” Kim chirped, a bright smile on her face. The two women could see how the girl worked to store all the information they had just given her as she made her way back to the Uchiha Compound most likely to find Kakashi or Itachi and tell them about her lesson for the day.

“Miko-chan our love child will be the best Kunoichi to have ever existed,” Kushina said wiping a tear.

“She’ll be gorgeous because she’s our love child, and she’ll be playing with the enemies’ hearts and emotions like a pro. She’ll be a natural,” Mikoto cried.

“Damn these mood swings! Damn the men who made us like this,” they cursed simultaneously.

In the Hokage’s Office and in the main office of the Konoha Military police Force two men suddenly had violent shivers run down their spines.

 _“I wonder what I did this time,”_  they both thought while rubbing their heads feeling matching headaches coming on, and earning strange looks from the others around them.

XxX

“Oi! Kaka-“

The teen was silenced when a slender hand was thrown over his mouth stopping him from successfully calling out to the younger boy he dubbed as his Eternal Rival. Gai’s overly bushy eyebrows rose so high that they were hidden beneath the bangs of his unsightly bowl-shaped haircut. His body tensed in preparation to attack.

“Calm down Gai,” Asuma said as he picked up a stick of dango off Kurenai’s abandoned plate.

The owner of said plate sent a glare in his direction as she let go of the Green Beast. She wiped her slightly damp hand on the back of the green teen’s spandex suit. “Did you see the look on Kakashi’s face?”

“He’s depressed,” Gai shouted, but quieted down when Kurenai hit him over the head. “I cannot let my ever youthful rival’s flames of youth be stumped out by the un-youthful depression-“

“Gai,” the red-eyed teen with the unruly black hair growled. “He’s not depressed.”

“What,” Asuma managed to get out through a mouthful of green tea flavored dango.

Kurenai sighed. They were both hopeless idiots, she thought to herself. “Look at his face,” she instructed. “He’s actually smiling. I wonder what made him so happy?”

“Kakashi? That arrogant bastard with a stick shoved so far up his ass that he could probably taste it, Kakashi,” Anko asked incredulously as she snatched a stick of dango out of Asuma’s hand. When the boy glared at her, she returned it tenfold causing him to pale and offer her the rest of Kurenai’s dango. “Besides what would he be so happy about? I thought he didn’t even know how ta smile.”

“What is my Eternal Rival doing,” Gai questioned. At that proclamation, the group of Chunin turned their attention to their former white haired classmate.

Kakashi nonchalantly walked down the main street. In his right hand was a little orange book. The day before he had gone to Jiraiya’s house to inquire about the team he taught while he was away in Ame. After their discussion, the older white haired man had shoved the book in his hands and pushed him out the door before he could protest. Later that night after he had gotten back from his latest ANBU mission, the book had stared at him until he gave in a started to read it. He had fallen asleep before he made it to the fifth chapter. When he had woken up, he picked up right where he left off. When Minato had seen him, the blonde had let out a groan and hung his head in dismay.

Ever since the young Hatake had left the Hokage’s office, he knew someone was following him. Although at first he didn’t know anyone was following him. It was only when he passed the Ramen shop, did he realize he was being followed. He heard an  _ooff_ and a  _thump_ , and when he looked back, he saw a little swish of dark hair fly into the crowd. He gave a small smile, shook his head, and continued on walking.

Every now and then he would hear silent footsteps trotting on behind him. Knowing what to look for he could even pick up the very subtle powdery floral scent of carnations and sweet cherries. He had to give props to his little stalker. He had not even known he was being followed, and to be able to stay undetected as long as she had was unbelievable.

When he walked by the dango shop he heard the unmistakable sound of a rumbling stomach. He smirked into his book. He was having fun. He had led his little stalker all around the village from the Hokage’s tower to all the training fields to all the clan compounds to circling the perimeter of the entire village to the main gate and then finally making his way back in the direction of the Hokage’s tower. He knew that his stalker had worked up quite an appetite.

He suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. Not looking up from his book he stated, “I know you’re there.”

In the dango shop, the group of Chunin froze in shock. Someone was following their classmate. They leaned forward trying to see what was going on. To their utter shock, a small dark haired child made her way towards their former classmate.

Kimi walked out from where she was hiding behind one of the vendor’s stalls. Her feet were aching. Her short legs were throbbing. Her head was spinning. She was out of breath. She felt like she was going to fall over at any second. She was feeling many other things, but she was too hungry to care. Dragging her feet, she came to a stop in front of the white haired preteen. Pouting she stated, “I’m hungwy.”

“Well where do you want to eat,” Kakashi questioned putting away his book.

“Sakuwa Café,” she answered.

The Hatake smiled making his visible eye crinkle. “Somewhere in the village.”

“Uhh,” the Uchiha thought. She jumped into his arms as she shouted, “Wamen!”

“Oi, Kakashi,” a familiar voice exclaimed. Suddenly a group of four were standing in front of the Hatake and Uchiha. “Who is this  _youthful_  child?!”

”Ahhhh,” the littlest Uchiha screamed, “It’s a gween bean! Kakashi kill it! Kill it!” The three year old was near tears.

“You’re still charting that brat around Hatake,” a boy said walking up to the group. Said boy had shoulder length brown hair and eye, his forehead protector was tied on his head like a bandana, and he was chewing on a senbon.

The little girl immediately stopped her panicking and turned to the newcomer with the fiercest glare she could muster. “Genma-teme.”

“Ah! Little one,” Gai chided, “Has my Eternal Rival been teaching you such un-youthful language?”

“Gai,” Kakashi sighed.

“Aww, she’s so adorable,” Kurenai gushed. “But why is she so filthy?” the red eyed teen was referring to how the little girl’s little blue sundress was tattered and covered in dirt.

“Just a bit of training,” Kakashi said shrugging his shoulders.

“Kakashi don’t you think she’s too young to start ninja training,” Asuma asked.

Anko just stared at Kimi with narrowed eyes.

“Tou-san said it was okay,” the girl stated.

“Who’s her father,” Kurenai questioned. “Maybe we should go talk to him. It’s not right to for kids into becoming ninja.”

“But I want to be a ninja like Win-shishou!”

“Calm down you little brat,” Anko scolded in a cold voice. The little girl did not know what it meant to be a ninja. She looked like the kind of kid that lived the comfortable pampered life.

“Anko,” Kakashi warned glaring at the spiky haired girl.

“Hey Kimi-chan,” Minato greeted the little girl walking up to the group. “Kakashi you need to get back to work on your mission. I’ll take Kimi home since I’m headed that way.”

“Can we get wamen,” Kimi asked as Minato carried her away from the group.

When Minato and Kimi were out of sight, Kakashi walked away from the group of his former classmates without saying a word. He didn’t understand why everyone was always so against kids training to be ninja at such a young age. He started training since before he was even two. He really hated being three years younger than all his former classmates.

“Kakashi I think she’ll be a splendid ninja,” Gai called out to his rival, unknowingly making him smile.

 

XxX

 “Alright Kimi-chan, we’re going to work on chakra today,” Minato explained to the three year old.  “Chakra is the first step to being able to perform any jutsu. I’m pretty sure you already know what jutsu are, so we can skip that part for now.”

 “Okay Minato-sensei,” Kim agreed wanting to get to the good parts.

“Chakra is created when you mold your physical energy and spiritual energy together. Your physical energy is in every single cell in your body, and your spiritual energy comes from training and experience. The chakra you mold is then stored within your body, and then can be released through the chakra points or tenketsu. The most common way we control and manipulate our chakra is through hand seals. There are twelve hand seals in total, but an infinite amount of jutsu they can create.” Minato turned his head to the side. “Kakashi, Itachi would you care to demonstrate the hand seals?”

The two boys made their way to stand next to Minato and proceeded to perform the twelve hand seals: “Bird, boar, dog, dragon, ox, tiger, snake, rat, horse, monkey, hare, and ram.”

“Those are the twelve hand seals you will need to memorize if you want to perform any jutsu, but before that you need to be able to mold chakra,” the blonde stated with a kind smile. “All living creatures have a set amount of chakra, but to be able to perform any type of jutsu we need more than the normal amount. So we start of by molding chakra through meditation, and then later on when you get the hang of it you will be able to mold chakra without even thinking of it. Then once your able to mold chakra we’ll move on to performing simple Academy level jutsu like the Bunshin and Henge no Jutsu.”

Ooookaaay,” the little Uchiha agreed. “What’s meditating?”

Minato sweat dropped; Fugaku was not making this easy on him. “I’ll show you.” He sat down. He crossed his legs and beckoned the young Uchiha to mimic his actions. Once she was sitting crossed legged before him he told her to put her hands in the tiger seal. “I want you to clear your mind of everything. Is your mind clear?” When she nodded, he continued. “Now I want you to focus on your spiritual energy and physical energy. When you get a good feel for them, I want you to try to mix them together. Only a small amount for now.” He waited for her to try it. “Did-“

“I don’t feel anything,” Kimi complained in dismay.

“You’ll get it eventually,” Minato said with a bright smile. “Why don’t you keep practicing those hand seals for now?”

XxX

“We’re going to work on Taijutsu, or hand to hand combat, and Shurikenjutsu,” Fugaku stated. “Before we start working on your Taijutsu we need to bring up your stamina and strength. For Shurikenjutsu we will work with kunai and shuriken, and more specialized weapons whenever you find a weapon your particularly interested in. we’ll work mostly on your aim and accuracy. It won’t be easy, and will take a lot of work. Do you still want to be a ninja?”

“Yes daddy,” Kim whined.

“Ninja don’t whine,” Fugaku stated bluntly in a stern tone.

“Sorry,” the girl apologized. The man ruffled her hair, and she gave him a beaming smile.

“For your Taijutsu we’ll start with the basics, as always, and then work our way up from there. Once we have the basics down to pat, then we’ll start working on finding a fighting style that suits you or creating a fighting style of your own, and work on the Uchiha Style.”

“Uchiha Style is just a bunch of fighting styles mixed together,” Itachi stated in a bored tone, twirling a kunai around one finger. Minato had to suppress a laugh at that, and Kakashi gave a small smile. Fugaku on the other hand was glaring at his son, who was not really paying him any attention.

“When you get better at Shurikenjutsu and Ninjutsu then you will be able to combine the two to make new techniques. You will also be able to combine Taijutsu with Ninjutsu and Taijutsu with Shurikenjutsu. Then possibly Genjutsu with either of the three,” Fugaku added making Kim’s eyes light up with all the possibilities. “Then when you get really good, you can become the next Clan Head.”

“Hey,” Itachi shouted indigently dropping his kunai and cutting his finger in the process. “I’m supposed to be the next clan head!”

“Don’t insult the Uchiha Style,” Fugaku stated simply, causing Minato to burst out laughing.

Itachi pouted and crossed his arms in anger. The boy ended up glaring at the other boy in the room. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the rejected Clan Head’s glare.

“Nii-san don’t be mean to Kashi-kun,” Kim complained trying, and failing, to keep herself from whining. When Itachi completely ignored her, she tried throwing a kunai at him but it did not go very far before falling miserably to the ground. Getting angry, she walked over to her brother and punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t be a jerk, Itachi-nii!” Itachi stared wide-eyed at his little sister.

“Just like Kushina,” Minato said shuddering.

“Fugaku it’s time,” Mikoto stated running over to the group from the house with excited eyes.

“It’s time for lunch already,” Minato questioned. Kakashi face palmed, and Fugaku gave the blonde man an exasperated look.

“Minato-chan I know you you’re a clueless idiot, but please tell me you won’t be this stupid when Naruto-kun is born,” Kushina said appearing behind her husband, hair floating and fists clenched.

“What the baby’s coming,” Minato shouted when realization dawned on him. “But it’s too early! The doctor said he wouldn’t be here until October!” He grabbed his wife by the arm and was about to start pulling her in the direction of the hospital when he was hit upside the head.

“Not me, you idiot,” Kushina growled, her eye twitching furiously. “Mikoto is in labor!”

“Oh,” Minato said stupidly. He rounded on the dark haired man. “How are you so calm?”

“This is my third,” Fugaku stated.

“And he’s going to be the Hokage,” Kakashi muttered.

“I’m in labor and you guys are just talking about nothing of importance,” Mikoto ground out letting waves of killer intent roll off her pregnant body.

“Right the baby,” Fugaku stated, as he prepared everything for the trip to the hospital.

When the group had reached the hospital, Mikoto was rushed off to a room. The doctor had informed her that she was not yet dilated, and left. Six hours of labor later and the Uchiha matriarch was dilated the full ten centimeters and ready to deliver her third child. Giving birth was a painful event, considering the woman refused to be on any type of pain medication fore she did not want to drug her baby, but it was all worth it when her little baby boy was placed in her tired arms.

“Sasuke,” Mikoto whispered softly to the newest member of their family. She touched his cheek gently with her finger, and he grabbed it with his tiny hand. She looked over at Fugaku. “Thank you.” He husband smiled at her, and placed a kiss on her sweaty forehead.

“Hello Sasuke,” Fugaku greeted his son for the first time.


	9. Part 1: Troublesome Girls

“Huh, is it a girl,” Kushina asked when she walked into the room. It was a few hours after Mikoto had given birth and been moved into a new room. The group that had been in the waiting room had rushed in as soon as they were given the okay.

“No it’s a boy. I thought I already told you that,” Mikoto said calmly.

“Oh, well I thought Tsunade was wrong. He does look a little girly,” the redhead continued looking over the baby boy with critical eyes. “But then again Minato was really girly and he turned out alright.” Minato hung his head, and Kakashi patted his back. “What’s his name?”

“Sasuke,” the black haired woman said as she looked down at her son.

“That’s the name of the Sandaime’s father,” Minato pointed out, coming out of his moment of depression and standing behind his wife.

“Yes, and I’m sure he’ll become a fine shinobi one day,” the Uchiha woman hoped.

“Oh Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun will be in the same grade,” Kushina stated. “I hope they become friends, dattebane.” She then leaned forward and placed a hand on the side of her mouth to whisper into her friend’s ear. “By the way… does it hurt? Like bad?”

“Well, well, even you’re afraid of something. I’ll be,” Mikoto joked in shock with a smug look on her face.

“Miko-chan, don’t mock me,” Kushina complained. “I needs ta know, dattebane!”

“Only a little,” the woman stated. Fugaku gave a snort at his wife’s answer, and discreetly motioned to Minato that it was all a lie, and showed the blonde man his bandaged hand.

Mikoto rested on her bed with her newborn baby held securely in her arms. Itachi and Kim both sat in front of their mother inspecting their new baby brother. Sasuke blinked at his older siblings not really understanding anything that was going on. The baby just grabbed at their hands when they were within his reach.

“Look Kimi-chan, Itachi-kun he likes you,” Mikoto said to the little girl.

“Can we keep him,” Kimi asked innocently causing the adults in the room to laugh. Her face turned as red as her favorite fruit, which just so happened to be cherries.

“Of course we’re keeping him,” Fugaku answered his daughter’s question.

XxX

A month had passed since the arrival of the newest member of the Uchiha clan, and there were only two months left until the birth of the Hokage’s first child. Like all newborn babies Uchiha Sasuke did not sleep the whole night and needed to be fed, and have his diaper changed at odd intervals throughout the entire day. Caring for her newborn son took up most of Mikoto’s time, and new cases arriving at the Police Force kept Fugaku busy. Itachi had been by training alone in preparation for when he would start the Academy the following year. Kakashi was always out on some ANBU mission. Minato and Kushina had been kept busy by making accommodations for the arrival of their son, and Minato was in the middle of drawing up a peace treaty with the Kazekage.

Kim, on the other hand, was mostly on her own. Itachi would play with her every so often, but she would grow bored when all the other children within the clan would avoid her like the plague and the fact that she was not allowed to leave the District on her own. She loved her new baby brother, but she just wished he were old enough to play with her.

She sighed and dropped her head in her hands where her arms were propped up on her knees.

“Why the long face squirt,” a familiar voice called out to the girl. Her onyx eyes snapped open to find Shisui’s face barely an inch away from her own. She gave a squeak and fell back wards on the porch. “Ha-ha, sorry kid, didn’t mean to scare you.” The older Uchiha boy gave her an apologetic smile as he helped her back into her sitting position. He then plopped down beside her and gave her a curious look. “So what’s got you so down?”

“I’m bowed,” she replied quietly. Her shoulders slumped as she said, “No one has time to play with me. Mommy has to take cawe of Sasuke-kun, Daddy is busy at wowk, Kashi-kun has missions, and Aunty Kushina and Mina-sensei have to get weady fow Nawuto-kun, and then all the other kids awe being jewks.”

“Oh I see,” Shisui said rubbing his chin in thought. He got up suddenly and walked away.

“Not even Shisui-nii-chan wants to play with me,” the little dark haired girl sulked as she threw herself backwards into a lying position. She swung her feet back and forth as she closed her eyes. Her nose twitched when she felt something furry brush against it. At first she ignored it, but then the furry thing would not go away. “Wha-“

“Kim-chan meet Blaze,” Shisui stated as held up tiny black kitten in his hands. “I was going to keep him, but I have missions. So I was thinking, maybe you could take care of him for me.” He smiled as the girl continued to stare at the kitten. “You know, he says he wants to be a ninja too, so maybe the two of you can train together.”

“Weally we can twain togethew,” Kimi said excitedly.

“Yeah, and we’ll be the bestest team ever,” Blaze shouted as he jumped down from Shisui’s hands and landed beside the girl.

“Let’s go right now,” Kim yelled over her shoulder as she made her way in the direction of her secret garden.

“The cat talks,” Shisui muttered. “Since when does the cat talk? This must be that Uchiha Madness Tou-san told me about… or was it Sharingan Madness. I need a nap.” He then made his way back home picking up his book bag as he went. The nine year old walked the rest of the way home in a daze.

XxX

“Hi Old Man,” the innocent three year old shouted as she caught sight of the self-proclaimed Super Pervert. Said Super Pervert was bent over at the waist with one – wide – eye was looking through a hole that he had made in the tall wooden fence the surrounded Konoha’s hot springs.  “Awe you peeping on the pwetty giwls?”

At the young child’s proclamation, the women on the other side of the fence began to shriek in horror at the news. Sandals, buckets, scrub brushes, and just about anything the women could get their hands on sailed over the tall fence, pelting the white haired sage with pinpoint accuracy. On the other hand, the white haired sage used his arms to shield his face from the worst of the onslaught while trying to scowl at the black haired girl. When the shower of bath items came to halt the Sage let out a triumphant smirk. As he was making his way in the direction of the three year old, a delayed sandal made its over the fence nailing the man in the head and knocking him off his feet. He landed in a heap on the ground.

“Brat where are your parents,” the white haired man questioned giving the small girl a glare which he gave up on since it didn’t seem to affect the child.  _Damn them Uchiha!_

“You truly are an imbecile Jiraiya,” a raspy voice stated in a bored tone as the owner of said voice walked to stand beside the fallen man. “It’s quite embarrassing that you can’t seem to scare off a toddler.”

The only thing Jiraiya could see of the newcomer was his feet, but just from his voice alone, he knew exactly who it was. “What do you want Orochimaru?” he growled out as he used his arms to push himself up to his feet.

“Nothing really,” the pale man replied, “Just out on a stroll.”

“What happened to that student of yours,” the Toad Sannin questioned.

“Anko has once again taken up residence at the dango shop,” Orochimaru stated. The second his purple haired student parked her behind at one of the many tables in the dango shop he had fled the premises. The last time he had indulged the teenage girl he had been stuck with the bill that had cost him almost as much as the pay for the standard A-ranked mission.

He let his gaze wander from his fool of a teammate to the little girl that seemed to be causing the idiot a bit of trouble. As soon as his gaze landed on her his eyes widened, but he quickly regained his composure. A grin worked its way onto his face as he bid his departure.

“Is she your girlfriend,” the littlest Uchiha asked the mountain of a man that stood beside her.

“He’s not my girlfriend,” Jiraiya said distractedly.

“She was pretty.”

It took a few minutes before what the girl had just said to sink in. When it sunk in the white haired Toad Sannin doubled over in laughter. “Y-y-y-ou think that that b-ba-bastard is a-a-a girl!” His chuckles shook his entire form causing his shoulders to shake uncontrollably. When he finally calmed down enough to form coherent sentences, he told the girl, “I really like you, kid. Do you like ice cream? Cake or anything like that? You know what? It doesn’t even matter. I going to buy you all the sweets you can eat.”

“Yesssssss!” Kimi shouted jumping up and down at the prospect of all-you-can-eat sweets.

XxX

“Hey Kimi, do you want to help me with something,” Kushina asked the girl sweetly.

Suwe,” the Uchiha answered excitedly. Her eyes were wide and slightly dilated. She was still experiencing her first sugar high. Jiraiya had kept his promise and had taken her to the candy store letting her run wild. Her little hands had grabbed had just about everything within reach and then some. He then took her home and helped her hide the majority of it before leaving.

“Alright,” the woman exclaimed with a mischievous grin on her face. “But first, let’s go play dress up!” She then grabbed the little girl’s hand and led her to her bedroom. Once inside Kim’s bedroom Kushina began to search for the perfect outfit for the little girl. She pulled out multiple dresses form the closet before deciding on one. She found a pair of the young girl’s shoes that matched perfectly with the dress. Before getting her dressed, the Uzumaki fixed her hair and did her make-up. After examining the girl, she beamed, and led her to the Hokage’s office. Standing before the door to the office Kushina crouched down, with great difficulty thanks to her over inflated belly, to the Uchiha girl’s height. “Okay Kimi, this is what I need you to do…” she whispered her plan into the three-year-old girl’s ear.  

Kimi ran through the door to the office after Kushina had held it open for her yelling, “Look daddy, I look like a pwincess!” She gave a little twirl allowing the skirt of her white dress to flare up. The short heels on her sandals clacked on the hardwood flooring as she ran to give the quiet white haired boy a hug. “Now me and Kashi-kun can get mawwied.”

Fugaku choked on his spit and stared wide eyed at his daughter. He could not believe the words that had come out of his sweet and innocent little girl’s mouth. It had to be a joke, some type of prank, or was he being filmed by one of those stupid TV shows and someone was going to jump out and say “Gotcha!” As the head of the Uchiha Clan and the Captain of the Konoha’s Military Police Force, Fugaku rarely ever lost his composure and had amazing restraint, but all that was violently lifted and thrown out the window when his little girl planted a kiss on the Hatake’s cheek.

Without thinking, the Uchiha lunged at the young white haired boy, and Kakashi had every right to look frightened. Minato jumped in front of Kakashi trying to shield him from the dark haired man, although he was struggling. The two men froze when they hears laughter coming from the other side of the door.

“Ah Kimi-chan, that was amazing,” Kushina praised as she walked into the room not even bothering to hide her amusement. She gave a teasing grin to Fugaku. “Who knew daddy could be so protective of his little girl? Well Fuga-chan,” said man scowled at the nickname, “I feel sorry for you when she starts taking a  _real_  interest in boys.”

“Kushina,” the woman’s husband groaned. As the redhead entered her last two months of her pregnancy, she had taken her hobby of pranking people to a completely new level stating that she would not have much time to pull pranks once she gave birth. No one was truly safe from the red haired Jinchuriki. Just that week she had put miniature explosive seals in his breakfast, wrote ‘FLASHER” in bright yellow paint across his forehead on the Hokage Monument, dyed Kakashi’s hair red and tried to pass him off as her son, stole Mikoto’s bras and shortened her dresses, told Itachi he could not keep his siblings, and that was only the beginning. The only person who had not been pranked was Kimi, and that was only because the two year old was helping her. The worst part of it all was that it was only Tuesday.

“Yes Flasher,” the red haired woman said innocently while rubbing her stomach in a soothing manner. She smiled widely when she felt Naruto kick.

“Don’t call me that,” Minato complained.

“Don’t whine,” Kushina snapped.

“I never really liked you much, but I do hope my daughter ends up like you and Mikoto,” Fugaku said to the redhead. He really hoped that his daughter would intimidate any possible suitors into submission or just scare them off.

“I never liked you either,” she waved off, “I only put up with you for Mikoto’s sake.”

“Sensei I think Hell just froze over,” Kakashi commented. As far as anyone knew, Fugaku and Kushina could never agree on anything. The two would always argue to prove their point, even over the most trivial matters.

“Not really. It’s common knowledge that they don’t like each other,” Minato reassured his student.

“Let’s go Kimi-chan,” Kushina called out to the young girl. “We’ve got some Academy students to prank!” With that, the two girls left the room.

“She’s only two years old, and she’s already more trouble than she’s worth,” Kakashi muttered before he leapt out of the window to prepare for a mission.

“Ah, Kakashi-kun the best ones always are,” Minato stated as he watched the white haired boy run over the rooftops to get back to his apartment. ‘You’ll be singing a different tune one day.” The blonde Hokage felt a prickle on the back of his neck. He turned his head to come face to with a glaring Fugaku. “W-What?”

“Don’t encourage him,” Fugaku growled.

“Why not Kakashi’s a good kid,” the Hokage retorted with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s much too old for her.”

“Aren’t you like five years older than Mikoto?” Fugaku glared harder, and Minato gave a smirk. “She could do a lot worse than Kakashi. I mean, she could fall for someone like Genma or  _Gai._ ”

“It’s not our decision who she loves,” Fugaku said with a smirk as he walked towards the door. Minato’s smug smirk fell.

“Stupid Uchiha, always have to get the last word,” he grumbled. To make matters worse a Chunin had walked in after Fugaku had left to drop off a stack of paperwork almost as tall as he was. He picked up the first file off the top of the stack and began to read it. He read the summary on the first page.

The first file was from Shikaku sating that all the Nara’s deer had gone missing. He quickly set the file down to pull out another one from the pile.

_How did they get lost? I though they lived in the forest, maybe their hiding or something._

The second file was from Hyuuga Hiashi stating that the Hyuuga Compounds had been invaded by rampaging deer.

 _Shikaku, I found your missing deer,_  Minato thought.  _I wonder how they got there._  Realization suddenly dawned on him and he released a sigh.

The third file was from Choza saying that someone had delivered fake flyers stating that a new all-you-can-eat restaurant had recently opened up, and when they got there, it was just an empty warehouse.

_Of course, it would be empty._

The fourth file was from Tsume. She wrote that someone had set off multiple stink bombs within the Inuzuka grounds, causing many of the Inuzuka to pass out from the strong odor and require medical attention.

_I hope Kakashi wasn’t caught in that._

The fifth file was from – Minato had to reread the name multiple times before he got it – Shibi alerting him that many of the Aburame’s bugs had gone missing.

_I’m sure I’ll find them…_

The sixth file was from Inoichi. Apparently, someone had switched their weed killer for sugar water, and they were having a bug infestation problem.

_I found them – what was his name again?_

The seventh file was from the Academy. Some students reported that the bathrooms were haunted by a red monster and a little ghost.

 _I wonder who the red monster and the little ghost are,_  he though dryly.

The eighth file was a bill from the Ichiraku Ramen shop.

_At least they’re eating and taking breaks._

The ninth file was oddly enough from Fugaku. He informed the blonde Hokage that his wife somehow managed to sneak into the Uchiha District and cover all the members of his clan in glitter and the proceeded to call them vampires.

_Ah Fugaku, you may have gotten the last word but I got the last laugh._


	10. Part 1: Kyuubi Strikes

“That kid needs to come out already,” Fugaku shouted. “I’ll take him out myself if I have to!” The Uchiha had once again become the victim of yet another one of Kushina’s pranks. When he had walked into the bathroom that morning for a shower, he was surprised to see the bathtub overflowing with baby octopi. The worst part was that they were still alive, and he could not just throw them away.

Kakashi had somehow managed to get rid of his red hair, although it remained pink for about four days. The pink haired Hatake had also woken up on an inflatable mattress floating in the Naka River.

Minato had to stop relying on Kushina to cook meals, and had to cook for himself even if what he made was not always edible, in that case he would just go out to eat. His wife had stopped pranking him, but he still had to deal with large amounts of paperwork and the complaining villagers – shinobi included.

Itachi had become a perfect little angel after Kushina had told him if he were bad then someone would take his baby brother and little sister away forever. The redhead also told him that if he ate the seeds from inside fruit they would grow in his stomach.

Mikoto took all her best friend’s pranks with grace. She did not mind that she was missing all her bras, or that all her dresses and skirts had gotten shorter. Fugaku and many of the men in the village did not seem to mind either. Though she did mind when Kushina kept kidnapping her daughter.

“Mommy whewe’s Aunty Kushina and Minato-sensei,” Kim asked her mother for what was the millionth time that day. To be honest Mikoto was starting to become worried, but tried her best to hide it so as not to scare her children. The last time she had seen her red haired best friend was that morning when she had gone into the market with Sasuke. Kushina had a brief conversation with her before walking off with Biwako – the Sandaime’s wife. Fugaku had informed her that Minato was missing as well, and that the Sandaime had taken over in his absence. The Uchiha woman knew that Kushina was due soon and hoped that nothing had gone wrong with the baby.

“She’s with your Uncle Minato sweetheart,” Mikoto told her two year old gently. She pulled the blanket over her daughter’s small form. “It’s time for your afternoon nap. You’ll see Aunty Kushina and Uncle Minato later, alright.”

“Okay mommy,” Kimi said as she rolled onto her side. She snuggled deeper into her mattress as she watched her mother walk out of the room and closing the door behind her. When she heard her mother’s footsteps fade away she whispered, “Blaze awe you still awake?”

“We’re gonna go look for Minato and Kushina,” Blaze asked, although it was more of a statement since he already knew the answer.

“Yup,” the dark haired girl confirmed popping the P. She slid out of her bed quietly careful not to make any noise when her feet touched the ground. Her feet softly padded across the hardwood flooring as she walked moved around her room. She changed out of her pajamas and into a pair of red cotton shorts and a plain black T-shirt that lacked the red and white Uchiha crest on the back. She pulled out an extra pair of ninja sandals out of her closet and went to sit on her windowsill to put them on. “Weady yet?”

“Been ready,” the little black kitten informed, “Land on the pads of your feet and not your heels.”

“Okay,” Kimi said as she slowly pulled open the window and slid out. She landed in a soft crouch after momentarily losing her balance. Blaze landed beside her without any problem. “Show off.”

“Be silent and run on the pads of your feet like me, and stay out of sight,” the kitten stated. With that, the duo ran through the Uchiha District in the direction of the main gate. The two made it to the gate with only one bump in the road. A couple and their son had caught them, but they completely ignored them once they saw who it was. Kimi sighed at her clansmen’s behavior. She really did not know what she did to offend them, but she was going to prove that she belonged. After passing the couple, the duo ran straight towards the main gate, and slipped out of the district. She took the road that would lead her to the main road of Konoha.

During her search for Kushina and Minato, Kimi had walked by a park. She stopped by the fence to look at all the other kids playing on the playground equipment. She was shocked when a little girl about the same age as her older brother ran up to her with a smile on her face. All the other kids from the clan always picked on her or just completely ignored her, but they never really approached her. Kimi had no clue on what she should do, so she just stood there slightly shaking.

“Come play with me,” the brown haired girl said with a smile. For a moment, Kimi had thought it was Rin, but then she remembered that the markings on Rin’s face had looked like purple rectangles. The markings on the brown haired girl’s face were red-ish purple and were shaped like upside down triangles. “Hey are you okay?”

Kimi was scared of what the older girl might do to her, and she missed Rin more than anything in the world. She did not know what to do. Her body was frozen and she could not get it to respond to her mental commands.  She did the only thing she could and that was to start crying.

“Don’t cry,” the older girl said in shock. “I just wanted to play. The boy said I couldn’t play with them since I’m a girl, but now that you’re here we can play together.” She grabbed Kimi by the hand. “Let’s go get ice cream. My mommy said that ice cream makes everything better. That and cake!”

The young Uchiha was confused. Why was this strange girl being so nice to her? Why didn’t she treat her like all the other kids did? Quietly she asked, “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Why wouldn’t I be nice to you,” the girl retorted giving her a bewildered look. “Are there other kids bullying you?” She gave a horrified face. “Don’t worry, I’m nice to everyone I meet, so unless you’re mean to me then I’ll be nice to you. But you look like you’re really nice. So now we can go play!” With that short explanation, the brown haired girl pulled the smaller girl by the wrist and pulled her into the park.

Blaze followed after the two girls and jumped into a tree to keep a better watch on the small Uchiha. He would have stayed in the tree keeping watch on his friend, but her caught sight of a few butterflies.

The dark haired two year old soon lost herself as she played with the older brown haired girl, and forgot that she was supposed to be looking for the red haired Jinchuriki and the blonde haired Hokage. Together the two girls took a stand against the group of boys who refused to let them get on the swings.

“Hey kid what’s your name,” the brown haired girl asked as she swung back and forth on the wooden swing.

“I’m Kimi,” the little girl chirped as she swung her legs back and forth trying, and failing, to swing herself. “What about you?”

“I’m Hana,” the older girl replied. “I’m from the Inuzuka clan. We specialize in collab-colla- uh… we do cool jutsu with our ninken. I have three ninken, the Haimaru Triplets, they’re at home though. All the members of my clan have these fang markings on their cheeks.” She pointed a finger at the said markings. “When I graduate from the Academy I want to be a veterinarian. I like helping animals. Are you gonna go to the Academy? What do you want to do when you graduate from the Academy? Are you a civilian or do you come from a clan like me?”

Kimi stared at the girl with wide eyes as she tried to comprehend the onslaught of questions. “Uh, I want to be a medic-nin like Win-shishou, but I want to be able to fight an’ do cool jutsu like my daddy an’ mommy an’ Kashi-kun an’ Mina-sensei an’ Aunty Kushina an’ Shisui-nii-chan.”

“You know you talk a lot for a two year old,” Hana commented. “So what clan are you from?”

“Uh,” the girl paused not knowing what to do. After the most recent clan meeting, it had been decided that the girl would be allowed to use the clan name and wear the clan symbol, but she could not tell of her relation to the main family. Fugaku and Mikoto had vehemently protested, but it was only the five of them – Fugaku, Mikoto, Itachi, Shisui, and Kagami – against the rest of the clan. “I’m fwom the Uchiha Clan.”

“Really,” Hana exclaimed. “Wow! When we’re older, I want to fight you. I bet you’re going to be awesome! But I heard that the girls don’t awaken the Sharingan, and if they do it’s extremely rare.”

“Hana-chan,” a voice shouted. “We’re leaving already!”

“Well looks like I gotta go now. Bye Kim-chan. Maybe we can play again tomorrow.” Kimi watched as the older girl ran in the direction of her mother, and gave a sigh.

“She smells like a dog,” Blaze commented as he walked up to the Uchiha who was still attempting to swing. “Kinda like that masked freak you have a crush on.”

“Kashi-kun is not a fweak,” the Uchiha girl shouted indignantly.

“You don’t deny that you have a crush on him,” the black cat commented.

“H-He’s my fwiend,” she stuttered as her face began to take on a red hue. The kitten sat down beside her and gave her a blank stare. Kimi glared at the kitten but it came out as more of a pout. When the cat began to laugh at her, she stepped on his tail until he cried  _Uncle_.

After lifting her foot off Blaze’s tail, she looked up at the sky. The sky was a mix of oranges, pinks, and purples. From where she was standing, she could see the sun going down behind the Hokage Monument. Her eyes landed on the fourth head with the spiky head of hair and she smiled. She remembered what she had wanted to do before getting distracted by her new friend. Quickly making her way out of the park, she finally began her search for Kushina and Minato. She knew the best place to look for Minato was in his office, and wherever Minato was, Kushina was. With that in mind, she and her cat made their way towards the back of the village.

XxX

In small building located a great distance away from the Hidden Leaf Village, Kushina lay on a table panting, trying to catch her breath. Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead, the bridge of her nose, and her chin. With one final push, the cry of an infant sounded throughout the room. Breathing hard, she began to open her violet eyes. When the sound of a baby crying reached her ears, her eyes widened and began to water.

Minato stood off to the side wearing a what only can be described as a stupid look on his face. His blue eyes were wide with wonder as he stared at his wife’s sweaty and tired face. Even if she was covered in sweat and, her hair was in a disarray, she stilled looked beautiful.

“You did it,” he whispered in awe, his eyes shining in the light the torches provided. His mouth was stretched into a wide smile as he started to laugh causing his shoulders to shake. He rubbed away the tears that threatened to spill out with the sleeve of his blue long-sleeved shirt. His eyes snapped open as he exclaimed, “I’m a father now!”

“It’s a healthy baby boy,” a woman’s voice announced. The voice belonged to Biwako Sarutobi, the wife of the Sandaime Hokage. Her long brown hair was worn in a ponytail. She wore a smile on her slightly aged face as she looked down at the bundled baby held in her arms. Standing behind Biwako was a tall woman dressed in a medic’s uniform named Taiji.

“Naruto,” the blonde Hokage called out as the Sandaime’s wife walked towards his wife. He wanted to get a look at his newly born son.

“No touching,” the brown haired woman snapped at Minato as he was about to lift his son out of her arms. The blonde man froze with a look of shock on his face with his mouth hanging open. Biwako gave him a stern look. “The first face he should see is his mother’s!” With that said, she walked passed him leaving him saddened and frowning looking like a scolded child and towards the redhead. The woman reached the edge of the table where Kushina rested, and held out the baby boy for her to see.

“Naruto,” the tired red haired woman whispered, “It’s nice to meet you.” The baby was crying exposing his gummy mouth. He had a head full of blonde hair the same color as Minato’s. Kushina was certain that if he opened his eyes, she would be met with eyes as blue as the ocean. His cheeks were a rosy color, and had three little whisker-like marks on either cheek. Tear fell freely from the woman’s eyes as she took in the sight of her son for the first time. She could not believe that the baby boy in front of her face was her own, that he was the product of hers and Minato’s love. She never knew she could meet someone for the first and know in an instant that she loved him and would do or give anything for him.

“You should get some rest now,” Biwako stated as she lifted up the baby and made her way towards the back of the room to get him cleaned off.

“Kushina, are you okay,” Minato asked as he placed a hand over hers.

“Yeah,” she replied softly.

“Thank you,” he whispered to her. His eyes were once again filling up with tears as he softly smiled down at her.

“Minato,” his wife whispered to him as she returned his smile with one of her own. Their eyes met, and all the emotions they were feeling seemed to pass onto the other.

“All right,” Minato shouted as he punched a fist into his palm. “It’ll be hard since you just gave birth, but I’ll do my best to completely suppress the Kyuubi!” He placed his right hand directly on top of the seal that held back the Nine Tailed Fox. Just as he was about to redo the seal, he was interrupted by two screams. His head snapped to the back of the room in time to see the two women fall to the ground. “Biwako-sama! Taiji!” 

“Yondaime Hokage Minato, step away from the Jinchuriki,” a raspy voice ordered. Minato and Kushina’s heads snapped in the direction the voice had come from. Minato had turned his whole body around while Kushina was only able to turn her head. Their eyes widened when they saw the cloaked man holding their son letting out gasps of surprise. They could not see the man’s face due to the mask he was wearing. “Otherwise, this boy’s life will have lasted less than one minute.”

 _How did he get past the barrier,_  Minato thought as he glared coldly at the masked man.  _Who the hell is he?_  He shifted into a battle stance only to be side tracked when his wife screamed in pain. “Kushina!” He could see how the seal began to loosen and spread over her body causing her to convulse.  _The Kyuubi’s seal is still weak._

“I told you to step away from the Jinchuriki,” the masked man warned as he pulled out a kunai from his sleeve and held it up to the baby’s face as Naruto continued to cry. “Don’t you care about your child?”

“Wait! Just calm down,” Minato shouted starting to panic.

“Heed your own words Minato,” the masked man chided. “I’m as calm as can be.” He then tossed the bundled baby up in the air.

“Naruto,” Kushina screamed in fear as she watched her son be thrown up. She saw the masked man jump up after him with his kunai raised to strike. Before the man could reach Naruto, Minato sprang into action and caught the infant using his chakra to stick to the wall.

“You really are the Yellow Flash,” the masked man commented as he landed on his feet. “But what about this?” He raised his hand in a seal, and set off the paper bombs attached to the blanket that was wrapped around the baby.

Minato’s eyes widened as he felt the sparks from the paper bombs on his hand. He faintly heard his wife shout his and his son’s name in fear. Right before the bombs could go off he jumped off the wall and quickly pulled the orange blanket away from his son while teleporting them to a different location. As he landed on his feet in a crouch, he threw the blanket behind him and jumped out of the building just as the paper bombs exploded. He flipped himself midair so that he would land on his backside and not crush Naruto beneath him. Naruto continued to cry as he looked him over and sighed in relief saying, “Good, Naruto’s not hurt.” He looked at his ankle where a piece of wood had gotten stuck. “I had to resort to my Hiraishin no Jutsu already.”

 _He’s after Kushina,_  he thought as he pulled the piece of wood out of his ankle.  _He succeeded in separating us._  He flicked the piece of wood away.  _I have to hurry._  Before the wood could hit the ground, he was gone only to reappear in a room.

XxX

Elsewhere, at what seemed to be a beach, the masked man restrained Kushina by her wrists. Her head hung as the final seal was in place. Sweat dripped down her face as she stared at the masked man. “Why are you doing this?”

“I’m going to extract the Kyuubi from you, and destroy Konoha,” he simply said to her, causing her eyes to widen.

“What,” she whispered.

“Minato’s Hiraishin allows him to teleport between locations where he had placed seal markers,” the man stated as he eyed the seal on Kushina’s stomach. “It also appears that he placed on of those markers on your seal. He is constantly protecting you, but I have separated you two now. Moreover, the Kyuubi’s seal has weakened after you gave birth.” He narrowed his eye as he whispered, “I have long awaited this moment.”

XxX

Back in the room, Minato laid the baby down on the bed and covered him with the white blanket. “You’ll be safe here. I’ll be back soon, Naruto.” He got a serious look on his face as he said, “I have to go save your mother now.

XxX

The masked man entered Kushina’s mindscape and came face to face with the Kyuubi. Using his Sharingan, he began to undo the chains that held the fox in place. Kushina’s mouth was open wide in a silent scream and her eyes had rolled to the back of her head. Her body was covered in a red orange glow from the Kyuubi’s chakra. The seal on her midsection turned from a pitch black a purple color.

“Now come out, Kyuubi,” the masked man commanded as he released the seal. The Kyuubi’s chakra poured out of the seal, and started to take form before the Nine Tailed Fox took form. The fox let out a deafening roar into the night.

The seal disappeared completely from the Uzumaki’s body as the last of the demon’s chakra was pulled out, and she collapsed on the rock where she had been standing.

“Excellent,” the man stated as the fox roared. “Now it’s time to face Konohagakure.”

“Wait,” Kushina called out to him as she lifted her head up. The masked man did not bother to turn and face her.

“The Uzumaki clan really is something,” he commented as he paused in his steps. “You’re still alive, even after the Bijuu has been extracted.” The Kyuubi growled. “You were the Kyuubi’s Jinchuriki.” He turned his head slightly to face her. “It’s only fitting that I kill you with it.” With that, the Kyuubi brought his hand down on top of Kushina.

Just before the Kyuubi made contact with the redhead, the blonde haired Hokage used his Hiraishin to get to her in time and teleported them to the top of a nearby tree.

“You really do move like a flash,” the man muttered, “But this time, you’re too late.”

“Minato,” Kushina breathed. “Naruto… Is Naruto safe?”

“Yes he’s safe,” Minato replied with a smile. “I left him in a safe place.”

“Thank goodness,” she cried. She looked up at him with an expression of anger on her face, although it was slightly muted due to her exhaustion. “Minato, you must stop that man and the Kyuubi, right now. They’re heading for Konoha.”

Minato turned his head to give the masked man his most deadly glare before he teleported them away to the same room where he had left Naruto.

“Why,” Kushina questioned.

“Don’t worry about that. Just stay by Naruto,” Minato ordered gently as he placed her on the bed beside the sleeping baby boy. Minato watched as Kushina hugged their child close to her body and whispered his name. He clenched his fists at his sides in anger. He knew what had just happened had been a possibility, but he never imagined it would actually happen. He pulled open his closet and started to put on his ninja gear.

“Thank you Minato, go after them” Kushina said to him as he slipped his arm through the sleeves of his white short sleeved haori.

“I’ll be back soon.”

XxX

The sun had completely set and had been replaced by the moon by the time little Kimi had made it to a short distance away from the Hokage’s Tower. She was walking down the main road. A gust of wind blew against her face causing her to shiver. Her stomach started to feel as if it was preforming acrobatics. She looked down to where her companion stood. Blaze continued on walking unaware of what she had felt. Maybe she had just imagined it all, but that sick feeling would not leave her stomach.

She looked around her to see if someone else had felt the sense of foreboding. There was no such luck. The other villagers carried on like they would normally do.  People were walking in and out of stores and restaurants. She even saw a man helping another who seemed to intoxicated to walk. Other children were running around playing games. She even saw a few ninja wandering around. Maybe Kakashi was somewhere in the crowd. She could never be too sure. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary so what did she have a feeling of dread? Was it because her parents couldn’t find her? Was it that when they did find her she would be in trouble? No, it couldn’t be because of that. She was always getting into trouble and she knew the feeling that she got before she would be punished well. What she was feeling was something else entirely.

A flash of white caught her attention.

“Can’t we just stick to Rock-Paper-Scissors tonight,” the flash of white said to the green thing. She was soon able to make out the flash of white to be Kakashi and the green thing to be his friend Gai.

“Again? Can’t you think of a more passionate duel,” the spandex wearing teen exclaimed with his fists clenched in front of him. From where she was standing, Kimi could see small green flames burning in his dark eyes and shivered. “And I call you my rival,” Gai shouted in outrage.

Kim let out a few giggles at Kakashi’s exasperated look. “We have an early morning tomorrow, so let’s pass on it the rivalry match for tonight.” She saw him give one of his eyes smiles and blushed. She kicked Blaze into a trashcan when she heard him snickering at her reaction. The kitten let out a shriek as he collided with the metal can. He shot a glare at his partner-in-crime.

“Don’t use our mission as an excuse,” the green bean yelled in anger. “I don’t know what to do with all this passionate energy overflowing from within me! It’s time to focus on our training like we used to! All that good work will accumulate and lead to our success in future missions!” By that point in his speech Gai was pointing at something Kimi nor Kakashi could see. As the bushy eyebrow teen continued talking, Kakashi had stopped walking.

The young Uchiha giggled nervously. Kakashi most likely caught her. As she was about to walked out towards the white haired teen, Gai ran back in front of Kakashi.

“Are you even listening to me,” the teen with the bowl hair cut shouted.

“Hold on Gai,” the Hatake said as he turned his head to the side. She knew at that moment that Kakashi had caught her. “Do you feel like something’s off? It feels like there’s a chill in the air.”

 _He felt it too,_  Kimi thought.

“Yeah, It’s your attitude,” Gai yelled making a scene, although no one really paid him any attention. “Our springtime of youth only comes once!”

XxX

Over at the Uchiha District Itachi sat outside on the back porch holding Sasuke in his lap. The five-year-old Uchiha stared up that the moon with critical eyes. His eyes narrowed.

“What’s this feeling,” he questioned. Sasuke began to cry. “There, there,” he soothed the baby in his arms.

_I don’t like this feeling. Why did mom and dad have to go out now? Where did Imouto go? I hope she’s at least with Kakashi. I know that members of the clan take turns watching after her, but they won’t really do anything to protect her. Not like Kakashi would._

“Don’t worry Sasuke-kun, Imouto wherever you are,” Itachi spoke to the baby. “No matter what, your big brother’s here to protect you.”

XxX

Kimi was about to make her way towards Kakashi and his strange friend when a loud roar sounded throughout the village. From above she could see a large cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, her eyed widened in horror. Her entire body began to tremble as she took in the sight of the Nine Tailed Fox. She had never seen something so menacing before. Even from where she stood, she could feel the large amounts of hatred rolling off the fox in waves. She saw the fox raise one of its paws and smash it into a building.

Villagers ran away from the Kyuubi as the Shinobi ran towards it. She was frozen on the spot and got trampled by the stampede of people trying to flee the scene. She rolled over onto her side and hid in an abandoned stall. Tears were falling down her face. She wanted nothing more than to run to her parents but they were not around. She wanted to be at home with her brothers. Kakashi was the closest refuge she could seek, but she could not get her body to move. When she opened her moth to call out to Kakashi all that would come out were gasps.

“Listen up, Kyuubi,” the green bean shouted at the monster. “All of my boiling energy is about to break free!”

“Don’t just rush in Gai,” Kakashi warned as he glared at the beast.

“Come, I’ll be your opponent,” Gai screamed while striking a pose on one leg.

 _Is this what it means to be a ninja? I don’t wan’na be a ninja no more! I wan’na go home!_ She looked up at the fox.  _But didn’t Aunty Kushina say that this thing was inside of her? Why is it out here? What about Naruto-kun? I have to find them. I have to be strong like Nii-san and Kakashi-kun! I can’t run away!_  With her resolve strengthened the two-year-old Uchiha stood up and ran through the stall towards the Kyuubi while trying her best to remain unseen.

“Wait,” she heard a voice shout. She stopped, but the order was not directed at her. It was directed at Kakashi and Gai. “Go to the guardroom, now! It’s an order from the Sandaime!” With that said, Kakashi and Gai ran to their designated area.

Kakashi stopped having sensed a familiar chakra signature but was pulled onwards by Gai. He did not have time to think before they were running at full speed. He could not figure out who the chakra belonged to.

All around the village Shinobi were ushering the civilians to safety as they prepared to take on the Kyuubi. Kimi could see ninja jumping up and down trying to distract the beast. They threw every kind of weapon she could think of, but they did nothing to deter tailed beast and only served to aggravate him more than he already was. The beast lashed out at the Shinobi leaving trails of fire in his wake.

 Tears ran down her face and she had no idea what she could do to help out, but she still ran onwards. She wanted to protect the village in any way she could just like the other ninja. She was completely unaware of the fact that her eyes were glowing red with a single red tome spinning madly. She was fast approaching the area of the village where Kyuubi stood.

A warm feeling fluttered through her chest, and she turned her head to face the Hokage Monument. She could just make out a figure standing on top of the Yondaime’s head.  _Minato-sensei!_ As it would turn out, someone else had spotted Minato. That someone turned out to be the Kyuubi. Kimi saw the giant fox open its mouth wide as if he were going to scream, but he didn’t. Instead, a dark purple ball similar to Minato’s Rasengan started to take form. The Kyuubi released the ball and it went straight through the village. When it reached the Hokage Monument it slowed down and then disappeared only to reappear somewhere in the distance.

XxX

 “How do I tell Sandaime everything that’s transpired,” Minato whispered to himself from atop his statue. Just as he said that, he felt a presence behind him and struck with a three-pronged kunai. He aimed for the masked man’s head, but his kunai slipped right through, and the man caught his arm in a vice-like grip.

“I’m your opponent, and you’ve lost,” the masked man stated. The masked man then activated a jutsu that started to suck Minato in, but Minato was faster and teleported away. “He’s fast enough to fly away. I’ll have to trap him faster next time, the moment we meet.” The masked man made a hand seal.

Minato had teleported to the same building he had when teleporting Naruto away, landing on his stomach. He started to get up.  _My attack slipped through him, but her was able to rematerialize and pulled me in. What kind of jutsu was that?_  He looked up with a gasp as he sensed a chakra signature. The masked man swirled into existence.

“You’re not getting away,” the masked man said chuckling.

 _He can use space-time Ninjutsu as well? Was that how he was able to get Kushina and disappear so quickly?_ The blonde Hokage stood up, pulling his kunai out of the ground. He stood directly in front of the masked man.  _He took out the ANBU under the Sandaime’s command, slipped past the barrier, and knew the Kyuubi’s seal would weaken during childbirth. He removed the Kyuubi’s seal and tamed it._ The image of another ninja popped into his mind.  _Not to mention he moved in and out of Konoha undetected. There is only one Shinobi I know who can do all that._  Looking directly at the masked man he asked, “Are you Uchiha Madara?” The man pulled down the hood of his cloak. “That’s impossible. He’s dead.”

“Are you so sure about that,” the masked man questioned cocking his head to the side.

“It doesn’t matter who you are,” Minato stated with a hard glare. “Why are you targeting Konoha?”

“You could say I did it on a whim,” the masked man replied tilting his head back, “Or that I planned it, or that I seek war, or that I seek peace.”

Minato shifted into a battle stance when he heard the chains fall from the others man’s hands. He lifted his kunai in front of himself.  _It does not matter who he is. He not the usual opponent. He can control the Kyuubi, and his space-time jutsu is greater than mine or the Nidaime’s. He also has dangerous plans. If I don’t take care of him here, he’ll cause even more destruction than the Kyuubi!_ He watched as the masked man placed shackles onto his wrists.  _If I head back to the village, he’ll just follow me. Just like Madara, he shouldn’t be able to hold the Kyuubi for too long. I have to take him down here!_

“Now that I’ve released the Kyuubi your village is doomed,” the masked man said in what seemed to be an arrogant tone before he charged at Minato.

Minato ran at him with his kunai poised to strike, but when he reached the masked man, he went straight through him and ended up getting caught by the other man’s chains. Before the masked man could move the blonde teleported away. In his mind he began to work out the finer details of his opponent’s jutsu. He deduced that in order for him to land an hit he would have to strike at the same time as the other man. The blonde then jumped to his feet and charged at the masked man. He threw his kunai and it slipped through the other man’s head. When the masked man made a grab for him he formed a Rasengan and teleported to his kunai. Once he was over the masked man, he slammed the larger-than-normal Rasengan down on his opponent creating a crater. He then placed a seal on the man’s exposed skin on his back.

The masked man jumped out of the ruble and took to higher ground. He clutched his injured left arm panting hard as his left hand fell away. From his vantage point he could see Minato through the dust. “I see you got me. No wonder they call you a phantom-“ Before he could continue, Minato was in front of him and stabbed him with a kunai. “Hiraishin no Jutsu?”  _I see. He must have marked me!_ He felt a pressure on his chest, and looked down to see a seal. “A contract seal? You’re trying to server my control over the Kyuubi?”

“The Kyuubi is no longer under your command,” Minato informed the masked man.

XxX

Kimi gasped in shock from where she hid behind a tree. She knew for a second that she had seen the Sharingan form within the Kyuubi’s eyes before it faded away leaving red slits for pupils. She would recognize her clan’s Kekkei Genkai anywhere. When the Kyuubi’s changed back to normal he seemed to be angrier than ever as he began a rampage through the village. He sent Shinobi and civilian alike flying through the air. Screams of terror could be heard from all directions. The young Uchiha rethought her plan as the chaos worsened, and decided to run away from the monster fox. She ran towards the outskirts of the village, which turned out to be a bad idea seeing as the ninja were trying to drive out the Kyuubi. She was starting to panic. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and her legs hurt from running. She wished she had gone with Kakashi when she had the chance.

XxX

“Listen up,” a man called to the group of young Shinobi assembled. “Your generation is to stay away from the Kyuubi.”

“What do you mean,” a girl with wavy brown hair and red eyes questioned.

“This is not a way between villages,” the same man stated. “it is our own calamity. You have no need to risk your lives for this.”

“You can’t tell us what to do,” the same girl shouted in outrage.

“Stand down Kurenai,” a teen standing beside her whispered, though she ignored him.

“You are all Shinobi, like me. We do not normally live long lives. But you, as my daughter,” he looked down at the girl named Kurenai, “Must pass on the Will of Fire onto my grandchild!” The girl’s eyes softened a bit. “At least promise your father that. I have faith in you.”

“Kim,” Kakashi shouted suddenly causing everyone within the clearing to look at him strangely. His eyes were wide with unadulterated fear and he was visibly shaking.

“Secret,” Gai asked confused. “What secret?”

“Not  _kimi,_ Kim,” Kakashi stressed. His legs were tensing in preparation to take off. “She’s a weird two year old who has a strange fascination with me.”

“Geez, Kakashi don’t you think she’s a little too young,” Asuma commented but he was silenced by a glare from the Hatake.

“Wait you mean that annoying little girl that’s always tailing after you,” Genma questioned as he pulled the senbon out of his mouth. “Isn’t that kid from the Uchiha clan or something?” Everyone listened in on the conversation in interest. Gossip about the Uchiha clan was rare and hard to come by.

“I sensed her chakra right as the Kyuubi attacked,” Kakashi said. “She was running-“

“See, the girl probably got to safety,” someone commented.

“-In the wrong direction,” Kakashi finished causing most to gasp. “You guys don’t know Kimi. She’s always doing something stupid, and with most of the clan hating her she’ll do anything to prove herself worthy.” He looked at Kurenai’s father. “You have to let me go look for her.”

“I can’t do that,” the man said. “These are the Sandaime’s orders.” That answer did not sit well with Kakashi. The teen grabbed the man by the front of his vest.

“Kakashi man chill-“

“That is not very youthful-“

“I’m an ANBU. I can die today, tomorrow, next week, or sometime after next month,” Kakashi growled. “Let me out of this barrier.”  He dropped the man when he gave the signal for him to be let out of the barrier, and then ran full speed out into the village in search of a troublemaking three-year-old.

XxX

Kimi’s heart as it was going to jump out of her chest at any moment. She had somehow ended up on the other side of the Kyuubi, the farthest away from the village. The hatred flowing of the Nine Tails was nothing like what she had felt when she was a safe distance away. In that moment, she made a promise to herself. If she survived, she will never let hatred become such a big part of her life. She knew that feeling hate was inevitable in order to protect love, but she would never let it consume her.

The Kyuubi took a step back. He was getting closer to where she was hiding. She would not allow herself to be afraid anymore. She turned on her heel and ran from the Kyuubi. She had not traveled more than six feet, when a giant toad appeared and landed on top of the Kyuubi. The force from the hit caused the ground to shake, and the little girl to lose her balance. From where she sat, not even a foot away from the Kyuubi, she could make out the distinctive form of Namikaze Minato standing on the head of the giant toad. She knew that with Minato there, he would take down the Kyuubi, but she needed to vacate the area. She stood up but the ground shook and she clutched onto the giant fox’s fur.

She felt a strange sensation and closed her eyes. When she opened her ebony orbs, she realized she was in a different location.

“I need to put a barrier up,” Minato said from the front of the fox. Kim let go of the fox when she heard his voice. She tripped and fell under some broken boards when she tried to walk in his direction.

“I can still do it Minato,” Kushina informed her husband, her breathing ragged. Golden chakra chains appeared and restrained the Nine Tailed Fox.

Kimi was stuck. She could not move due to the boards lying on top of her small form. She could not talk due to the crushing weight making it hard to breathe. She turned her head to the side, and was able to see Minato and Kushina with baby Naruto. She smiled through the pain and gave a silent laugh. She was only two years old, what exactly did she expect to do. Save the village from the Kyuubi by herself when she had only just started ninja training.

She looked at the family of three and listened in on their conversation. She really could not hear much, but she got the gist of it. Her Aunty Kushina and Uncle Minato were going to die in order to save the village and protect Naruto.

Minato worked to seal the Yang half of the Kyuubi’s chakra into Naruto. It was when he moved to seal the Yin half within himself that something strange happen, although he never noticed it. Kimi’s Sharingan had evolved from having only one tomo to two. Her Sharingan began to spin wildly when Minato began to seal the Yang half within himself. There was a bright flash of light and Minato and Kushina along with the Yin half of the Kyuubi were gone.

Kimi lost consciousness as Naruto began to cry.


	11. Part 1: Loss

"Shh, it's okay," the five-year-old boy whispered to the crying baby boy in his arms. No matter what he tried, he could not calm the baby down. He checked the baby diaper, fed him, and he even went so far as to bathe him in the little tub his mother kept under the sink for such purposes. Nothing he tried worked to calm his brother, and he was starting to panic. He felt that he too might start crying along with the baby.

Itachi still did not know where his parents were. His sister still seemed to be missing, but he knew that wherever she was Kakashi would find her – that is, if he had not gotten himself killed. He had seen the giant fox from where he had been sitting, and when the infuriated fox had disappeared, he hoped that his parents, and his sister – and the white haired teen to some extent – were all right. He did not know what he would do if something were to happen to any of his precious people.

He had a feeling that his little sister had done something incredibly stupid - he had a sixth sense for those types of things. He first discovered his newfound sixth sense when she had gone on a pranking spree with his mother’s redheaded best friend.

The young Uchiha heir remembered hearing whispers about a breach in security before his parents had left along with the rest of the clan.

“Kaa-san and Tou-san will be back soon, and so will sister,” Itachi whispered to the suddenly calm Sasuke. Without his brother’s cries penetrating the air, he was able to notice that everything had gone quiet. He could no longer hear the shouts and explosions that came from fighting the Kyuubi. Now that he thought of it, he could no longer hear the roars of the Kyuubi.

He closed his eyes and when he reopened them, they glowed in the darkness of the compound. The two tomo that surrounded his pupils spun slowly as he scanned the area. There was no one within the district other than his brother himself, the other Uchiha children, and a few shinobi that had been thrown into the grounds – some had died on impact while a few had managed to survive. Seeing shinobi die was not something new to the young Uchiha.

The first time he had witnessed death had been when he was four, a few months before his little sister came into the picture. His parents had asked Shisui to watch him for the day while they took care of some important clan matters, and he had wandered off on his own while his cousin had been too busy talking to a group of girls. While he was busy roaming the main street of the village, he had accidentally gotten mixed up with a group of traveling merchants and ended up leaving the village with them. One of the couples had mistaken him for one of their children – there were enough children to fill up a classroom – and loaded him up on the cart with the other children.

The group had only been halfway to Tanzaku Quarters when they had gotten down to rest. There one of the women did a head check, and realized they had an extra child.  The group did not even have time to wonder where the extra child came from when four Iwa-nin dropped down from the surrounding trees. What happened next opened Itachi’s eyes to the harshness of the world in more ways than one. When the Iwa-nin had noticed that there was an Uchiha child – mainly due to the fact that said child had activated his Sharingan – among the group they had decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and took him with them. Luckily, for the four year old, Shisui had notified the Hokage that he had gone missing and the Hokage sent his student – who was a skilled tracker – after his trail. It did not take long for the young Jonin to find him, and take out the enemy. After that, the young Jonin had to carry him back to the village since he had lost consciousness sometime during the battle.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Itachi looked up at the sky with narrowed eyes.  _What happened out there? This sudden calmness is unsettling._

**XxX**

It felt as if the temperature had dropped to below the freezing point. His body gave a slight shiver as he continued his search for the missing troublemaking two year old. If the situation had been different, the white haired Jonin would have berated himself for how he lost his temper back in the clearing with the others of his generation. He shook his head to clear his mind of wandering thoughts. He needed to focus. He needed to keep his senses open and spread out as far as he could stretch them.

A subtle scent of cherries mixed with a scent he recognized as carnations wafted towards his nose. The scent itself was very faint and seemed to be fading with every passing second. He pushed more chakra to his nose hoping to further strengthen his already sensitive sense of smell. It worked. The scent was a great distance away from the village, though he paid no mind to that fact as he continued to race through the village gates. He also chose to ignore the odd stares and shouts of his name as he passed by large groups of puzzled older Shinobi and the Sandaime Hokage.

Kakashi had only one goal in mind, and that was finding his missing tagalong.

He stopped sending extra amounts of Chakra towards his nose, and pulled his mask off his face instead. Others often told him that his natural sense of smell could rival those of the Inuzuka clan. There had been very few times that he was grateful for that fact, and the current situation was becoming one of them.

He shook his head ridding himself of his wandering thoughts. He needed to focus on finding a certain trouble making Uchiha that had taken a strange interest in him. He dully noted that he was being followed. He did not look back to see who it was and continued to run. He pumped Chakra into his legs and picked up his speed. Most Shinobi made fun of his small size, but for what he lacked in physical strength he made up for in speed. Without even realizing it, he had left the group that had been tailing him a great distance away and struggling to keep up with his new pace.

The white haired teen continued to run, the chilled wind slicing at his face. The feeling of the wind on his bare face was almost a foreign one. He could not remember a time when he had not worn his mask. Strange feeling or not, he was glad that the wind was blowing the scent towards him.

The scent began to grow stronger and more potent, although it seemed to be growing weaker at the same time. No, weak was not the best way to describe it. The scent usually had a warm feeling surrounding it, but it seemed to be losing its warmth and becoming cold. Living things always had a warm feeling accompanying their scents. The fact that the scent was losing its warmth set Kakashi on edge. He tried his best not to panic but it showed in the way he picked up his seed. Chakra was pumped furiously into his short legs and his muscles strained to propel him further. He slowed his pace to a walk as he entered a large dirt clearing.

He took a deep breath. There was a second scent. It was similar to two other scents he was familiar with yet completely different, unique. On a slab of rock, swaddled in an orange blanket was a wailing infant. The white haired teen slowly walked towards the baby. With a single glace at the child, he knew who he was. He hesitantly put a hand to the child’s face. The child immediately calmed down and stared at him with innocent blue eyes so much like his fathers. The teen felt his chest constrict. He did a quick scan of the immediate area. There was no one around. Where were his sensei and his redheaded wife?

There!

He spotted a small flicker of Chakra with his Sharingan eye. With a quick glance at the baby, he leapt over to where he caught the movement of Chakra. When he landed, all he could see was piles of rocks and debris from a fallen building. If he had to guess, he would say that the building had exploded. He spotted a tiny hand under a pile of boards. His heartbeat picked up its pace as he began to worry. Crouching down, he slid his hands under the boards. They were too heavy to move. He ended up lifting them up slightly with his right arm, and with his left hand, he pulled on the small arm until the tiny body of a two year old was revealed.

Small cuts and bruises littered her body. With a hard tug, her body flew into his and he dropped the boards he was supporting.

“Ngh,” she let out a soft groan into his chest.

Kakashi let out a breath he did not know he was holding as he wrapped his arms around the girl’s significantly smaller shivering body. Standing up he carried the girl over to where the crying baby was and sat down.

“Hey,” he whispered. “Wake up.” The dark haired girl gave a slight twitch. He gently shook her until her eyes fluttered open. Gently, he helped her get in to a sitting position on his lap.

She had yet to say a word, which was strange considering she was always taking even when she had just woken up. She just sat on his lap staring at nothing in particular. Her eyes were half-lidded and dull. Her movements were slow and timid nothing like her normal fast and fluid movements. She snuggle her body closer to the white haired Jonin’s and rested her cheek on his chest.

Kakashi often found himself for getting that the two year old was just that, a two year old. She had a tendency to act older than what she was. She was always hyper aware of her surroundings. She was a fast learner. The list went on. She had the potential to be called a prodigy in the making. That was why Kakashi started to worry when he felt hot tears seeping through his shirt.

The white haired teen scooted back until his back hit the rock slab. He reached around and pulled the baby down onto his lap. From the seal on the baby’s stomach, he knew that his sensei had resealed the Kyuubi within the boy. Without the Kyuubi, he knew the fiery redhead was gone, and he knew that his sensei was too.

He felt a lump form in his throat. It felt as if he dry swallowed a large pill and it had gotten stuck. No matter how many timed he tried to swallow down the lump it would not go away. He felt a burning sensation in his eyes. At first, he tried blaming it on the wind hitting his eyes, but he gave up on lying to himself. Soon he felt his own hot tears streaming down his cheeks. His tears soon turned into sobs. He hugged the two small forms on his lap closer to his body seeking comfort. He had just lost two more people he cared about.

Why did everyone around him end up dead? Was he cursed? Did death follow him like a shadow, killing off the people who dared to care about him?

“Kakashi,” the voice of the third Hokage called out to him. Said boy looked up at the man with bleary eyes. “Where are Minato and Kushina?”

“They’re gone,” was all the teen was able to get out before he was overcome by his sobs.

A few of the other Jonin shook their heads at the teen’s blatant display of emotion. The Sandaime waved them off and sent them back to the village, leaving only the clan heads behind.

“Kakashi,” Fugaku called out, stunning the others. He walked towards the small form of the thirteen-year-old boy. The man crouched down in front of the boy and looked him over. Normally Kakashi would have shifted awkwardly under them man’s stare but he was too distraught to really care. “Let me take her.” He held out his hands for his daughter, but the boy pulled the two children closer. Fugaku looked up when he felt a hand placed on his shoulder.

“It’s okay Fugaku,” Mikoto said softly. She had to remain calm even though she wanted nothing more than to bawl her eyes out since she had just lost her closest friend. She looked down at the baby in the teens arms and allowed a few tears to escape her eyes. She saw the resemblance between the boy and her former teammate.

“He’s their son,” Mikoto stated in a soft whisper as she clutched onto her husband’s shoulders for support. “It’s Naruto.”

Hiruzen did a quick scan of the area. There was no one around aside from their small group. On the ground he spotted a discarded scroll. He walked over towards the scroll and picked it up off the ground. Looking over it he recognized it as a summoning scroll. Upon closer inspection he found that it was a summoning scroll for a Shinigami. The worst part of his discovery was that the scroll had recently been activated. His face took on a stoic appearance. “We need to head back to the village.”

The two Uchiha nodded their heads in agreement. Mikoto managed to coax Kakashi into letting her carry the baby, and Fugaku managed to get Kimi. Kakashi stood on his feet. The four walked over to where the other Jonin stood and led them back to the village.

**XxX**

Three days had passed since the Kyuubi’s rampage through the village. Shinobi and civilians alike began the reconstruction of the damaged areas of the village. A funeral was held for the Yondaime and the ninja whose lives were lost in the attack. The Sandaime had been reinstated as Hokage. The past three days were busy ones.

After the Yondaime’s funeral Kakashi had refused to leave his apartment. Kimi still had not uttered a single word since that night. The two would constantly wake up in the middle of the night due to frequent nightmares.

Hiruzen still did not know what to do about the situation with Naruto. The orphanage refused to take in what they consider to be the demon fox itself and almost all his Shinobi were the same.

Then there was the fact that Danzo and the Village Elders believed that the Uchiha clan were behind the Nine Tails Attack.

“Hiruzen you can’t be serious,” Danzo stated bluntly as he stared down at his former teammate.

“Mikoto and Fugaku are the only ones willing to do it,” the Sandaime reasoned with his friend.

“We can’t trust them with the Jinchuriki! They’re the prime suspects for the attack!”

“The Uchiha clan had not part in the recent attack. Mikoto and Fugaku were especially close to Minato and Kushina. I do not believe they would do that to their own friends.”

“They’re Uchiha who knows what they would do to obtain power.”

“Danzo,” Hiruzen said giving his friend a hard look. The man was beginning to get fed up with the other man’s accusations on a well-trusted clan. A clan that helped set the foundation for the very village they now strived to protect. “The Uchiha are a loyal clan to this village. Even if what you suggest is true, they have an alibi. There was a disturbance in the Uchiha District right before the attack. Fugaku believes that whoever unleashed the Kyuubi entered through Uchiha District grounds.”

“Likely story,” Danzo scoffed before taking his leave. 


	12. Part 1: Trauma

_A gust of wind blew against her face causing her to shiver. Her stomach started to feel as if it was preforming acrobatics. She looked down to where her companion stood. Blaze continued on walking unaware of what she had felt. Maybe she had just imagined it all, but that sick feeling would not leave her stomach._

_…_

_“Hold on Gai,” the Hatake said as he turned his head to the side. She knew at that moment that Kakashi had caught her. “Do you feel like something’s off? It feels like there’s a chill in the air.”_

_…_

_From above she could see a large cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, her eyed widened in horror. Her entire body began to tremble as she took in the sight of the Nine Tailed Fox. She had never seen something so menacing before. Even from where she stood, she could feel the large amounts of hatred rolling off the fox in waves. She saw the fox raise one of its paws and smash it into a building._

_…_

_All around the village Shinobi were ushering the civilians to safety as they prepared to take on the Kyuubi. Kimi could see ninja jumping up and down trying to distract the beast. They threw every kind of weapon she could think of, but they did nothing to deter tailed beast and only served to aggravate him more than he already was. The beast lashed out at the Shinobi leaving trails of fire in his wake._

_…_

_Kimi gasped in shock from where she hid behind a tree. She knew for a second that she had seen the Sharingan form within the Kyuubi’s eyes before it faded away leaving red slits for pupils. She would recognize her clan’s Kekkei Genkai anywhere. When the Kyuubi’s eyes changed back to normal he seemed to be angrier than ever as he began a rampage throughout the village._

_…_

_Kimi’s heart as it was going to jump out of her chest at any moment. She had somehow ended up on the other side of the Kyuubi, the farthest away from the village. The hatred flowing of the Nine Tails was nothing like what she had felt when she was a safe distance away. In that moment, she made a promise to herself. If she survived, she will never let hatred become a part of her life._

_The Kyuubi took a step back. He was getting closer to where she was hiding. She would not allow herself to be afraid anymore. She turned on her heel and ran from the Kyuubi. She had not traveled more than six feet, when a giant toad appeared and landed on top of the Kyuubi. The force from the hit caused the ground to shake, and the little girl to lost her balance. From where she sat, not even a foot away from the Kyuubi, she could make out the distinctive form of Namikaze Minato standing on the head of the giant toad. She knew that with Minato there, he would take down the Kyuubi, but she needed to vacate the area. She stood up but the ground shook and she clutched onto the giant fox’s fur._

_…_

_She looked at the family of three and listened in on their conversation. She really could not hear much, but she got the gist of it. Her Aunty Kushina and Uncle Minato were going to die in order to save the village and protect Naruto._

_…_

_There was a bright flash of light and Minato and Kushina along with the Yin half of the Kyuubi were gone._

_Kimi lost consciousness as Naruto began to cry._

The young Uchiha jolted up into a sitting position as she let loose a heart-wrenching scream that filled the silence of the Uchiha Manor. She gripped onto her petal pink blanket as if she were holding on to dear life. Tears fell from her eyes and down her cheeks in tiny rivers as uncontrollable sobs caused her shoulders to shake.

It was another nightmare; the same exact nightmare that had been plaguing her for the past three months. The only problem was that it was not a nightmare. The flashes in her dreams were not those of a nightmare. When she woke up it would not go away, because what she had dreamt of was real. It all had happened.

The Kyuubi had attacked the village, and Minato and Kushina had died.

Never again would Minato and Kushina come bursting in through their front door uninvited.

Never again would Kushina spend hours arguing with her father.

Never again would Minato and her mother try to break them apart while keeping the peace.

Never again would Kushina take her to play pranks and deface the Hokage Monument.

Never again would Minato teach her how to become a strong shinobi.

Never again would Kushina laugh in the kitchen with her mother.

Never again would Minato look down on Konoha as its protector.

Never again would the couple stare into each other’s eyes with a love so pure.

Never again would they be able to hold Naruto close.

Never again…

She twitched when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her small form and pull her close. It was her father. She knew that he mother was standing off to the side, and she knew that Itachi was there too. They were always there for her. Only they could not help make the nightmares go away, because they were not nightmares, they were her memories. They would never go away thank to her Sharingan. They were forever imprinted into her mind. There was no escaping them. There was no forgetting them.

Fugaku hugged the form of his three-year-old daughter close. He could feel a wet spot form on his shirt from her tears. He could feel how her tiny body jerked with each sob. It tore him apart inside. His little girl was in pain and there was nothing he or anyone – even Hatake – could do about it.

It had been the same every night. The girl would scream as her mind replayed the night of the Kyuubi’s attack. She even refused to be in the same room as Naruto. She couldn’t look at him without breaking down, and Kakashi was the same. The last time the boy had visited Fugaku noticed how his right hand looked as if it had been rubbed raw, but he assumed it was an aftereffect to using the Chidori.

The sound of soft crying jolted the man out of his thoughts. From the sound of the cry alone, he knew that it was Naruto waking up for his bottle. Fugaku cracked a smile as he thought how similar the blonde baby boy was to his redheaded mother. When Kimi would awaken from her nightmares Sasuke would be jolted awake and start to cry while Naruto would continue to sleeping peacefully.

He remembered one mission in particular when he had to wake up Kushina when it was her turn to take watch and it was a lot harder than he thought and it wasn’t until it was time for them to set off again that she woke up. The smile fell from his face, and his lips settled into a soft frown. He never imagined he would ever miss the red haired menace as much as he did. Hell, he never imagined that she would die before him.

It was because of that demon – he was not talking about the Kyuubi – that he was able to realize his feelings for the black haired beauty before it was too late.

Growing up as the heir of the Uchiha Clan, he had no time for such frivolous endeavors. His father expected the very best of him. No. His father expected him to be far superior to all those around him. He had to outshine his classmates at the Academy. He had to be the model Uchiha. He had to obey the Clan Head’s every command without question. He… he could write a book… no not a mere book… He could write an entire series of all the things that were expected of him as the Uchiha Heir. With those high expectations to achieve he never got around to making friends or forming bonds outside of the clan. None of that happened until he met Mikoto. He never really thought for himself until he met the woman that would one day become his wife and the mother to his children.

The Uchiha Clan Head never thought much about marriage growing up. All he knew was that when he came of age he would wed the girl of his father’s choosing. It wasn’t until he had met his soon-to-be-bride that his life was turned upside down, because that very same day he had been assigned a mission with Mikoto, Kushina, and Minato. During that mission, things began to change and eventually – as Kushina would say – the pole that was shoved so far up his ass was  _dislodged._  That was a story for another time.

Fugaku slowly shifted the small girl in his arms until she was resting on his chest, and leaned back until his head met the soft pastel pink pillow. He looked down at the sleeping girl resting on his chest. She looked every bit like her mother just like his youngest son.  _It’s like I wasn’t even awake when we conceived them. At least Itachi looks like me._ He extended his arm to said boy beckoning him to climb into the bed beside him. Once the boy was lying beside him, he wrapped his arm around him and pulled him close.

XxX

“Calm down Sasu-chan,” Mikoto soothed the crying baby as she entered the room. She quickly made her way over to the crib. Slowly she lifted the baby supporting his head. Holding her baby close, she started to sway while gently patting his back and softly singing the lullaby that always put all her children to bed – even her best friend’s child.

The baby looked so much like her like his older sister. She laughed as she recalled Fugaku always complaining that his children looked nothing like him. She would sooth him by saying that at least Itachi had some of his features even though the majority of them came from her.

It always saddened her to know that she never was able to have these kind of moments with her daughter.  Before she could take that though any further, a second cry made the woman stop singing. A small smile graced her soft features as she walked across the room to the other crib. She struggled a bit, but she managed to lift the three-month-old baby boy in to her arms.

“Hush Naru-chan,” she whispered to the crying boy.

The dark haired beauty took a seat in the rocking chair that was placed between the two cribs and in front of the large window.

She let out a sigh as the two babies calmed down. Naruto quickly fell back to sleep, while Sasuke stayed away and entertained himself by playing with his mother’s long ebony tresses.

Mikoto rested her head atop the dark hair boy’s head and set her eyes on the face of the blonde haired baby boy. She mourned for her best friend. She wished there was something she could have done to save her and her former teammate. But they were gone, and all she could do to honor their memory was to make sure their son was taken care of.

Directly after the None Tail’s attack, she and Fugaku followed the Sandaime back to the Hokage Tower. After making sure her daughter was all right, she sent the little girl home in the arms of the young Hatake. Once the two were out of the room, she pleaded with the Third Hokage to allow her to raise her best friend’s child. It was then that the Village Elders and Danzo stepped in. The Elders and the Hokage agreed that it would be in Naruto’s best interest that his parentage remains a secret for his own protection lest one of his father’s old enemies suddenly attack him. It was also decided that his Jinchuriki status remain hidden as well.

In the end, Sarutobi allowed Naruto to be in their care until after his second birthday. The Hokage feared that if he were to place the newborn in theorphanage he would be assassinated. After the two years were up, Mikoto and Fugaku were to cease all contact with the boy. Danzo stated that if word were to get out that the Uchiha Clan was interested in the boy it would draw attention to his parentage and make the boy a target.

Mikoto and Fugaku disagreed with them on many accounts, but were ignored. They hated the way Danzo stared at them with suspicion as if they were an enemy.

Nothing had been making any sense as of late. That Danzo character left a bad taste in her mouth. When he stared at her, her instincts kicked into overdrive. She was wary of the man, but she couldn’t figure out why. He was a loyal shinobi of the leaf, so why did she feel like he was watching her every move?

She shook her head trying to clear the jumbled mess that was her mind. She had other things to worry about, like her daughter and Kakashi’s trauma.

Ever since the attack, Kimi would have the same nightmare over and over again. There was no escaping for the young girl. She had a few discussions with Fugaku over the matter. There was nothing they could do yo help her. She had the Sharingan activated the whole time and those memories would never fade. The only option they had was to seal her memories along with the Sharingan away. But they couldn’t do that. If they were to seal the Sharingan, then the clan would vote that the girl be revoked her rights to use the Uchiha name. As a mother, she wanted nothing more than for her children to be safe and happy. She was leaning more and more towards the sealing each day she heard her little girl woke up screaming.

Then there was Kakashi. She would occasionally see the boy around the house. It had become the norm for the boy to come over unannounced. He would spend his time caring for Naruto – the same way Itachi would care for Sasuke – and trying to get Kimi to either talk or eat. The few times Kakashi spent the night, she noticed how he would wake in a cold sweat and proceed to vigorously scrub his right hand in the bathroom sink. Then there were the excessively large amount of mission he would take on. The boy was stretching himself thin in an attempt to forget. She heard the rumors about him, and was saddened. Kushina was the only one who was ever able to get him to open up. The redhead was like a mother to him, as Minato had become a father figure.

These two children were in pain, and she vowed to do whatever she could to make it go away. She would start with her daughter, and maybe with when the girl was better she would be able to help the white haired boy in some way. It was a hard decision, but even if the girl wasn’t allowed to use their clan’s name she would still be her child. She prayed she wasn’t making the wrong decision.

Slowly standing up she gently placed the two babies in their respective cribs. She silently closed the door behind her and made her way towards her daughter’s room.

Peering inside the girl’s room she thought,  _well I can always tell him in the morning,_ when she caught sight of her husband sleeping on their daughter’s pink bed with their two oldest children snuggled up on either side of him.  _I had better go checkup Kashi-chan while I’m at it._

She walked down the hall to the guest bedroom. Quietly opening the door so as not to alert the sleeping boy she looked inside. The boy in question was sprawled out in the center of the bed. One arm was resting atop his stomach while the other was thrown above his head. His right leg was dangling off the bed with his toes just barely touching the floor. The light blue blanket was practically on the floor.

Mikoto shook her head as she entered the room. Gently she lifted the boys leg back onto the bed. Then she picked up the covers and spreading them out over him. She cast a look at his face and found herself shaking her head again as she pulled the mask off the boy’s face.  _Such a handsome face shouldn’t be covered, but then again if he let everyone see his face then those horrid fangirls would never leave him alone._ She placed the black facemask on the nightstand and made her way out of the room shutting the door behind her.

_Hopefully things will get better soon._


	13. Part 1: Fear and Frogs

Fugaku had to be extra cautious when dealing with clan matters such as the Sharingan and seeing that Kimi was his only daughter he took extra precautions. He didn’t exactly want just anyone to perform the sealing. He needed someone he could trust, and who knew of the entire situation. He did not want to have to explain the situation to someone he didn’t exactly trust – his safety on missions was one thing, but his daughter wellbeing was another.

Fugaku, himself, held no skill in Fuinjutsu other than having enough knowledge to create his own paper bombs and storage seals - the same could be said for Mikoto as she had more talent for water-based jutsu than anything else. His first choice had been to ask Jiraiya, but the man was away gathering information from his spy network.

Another part of it was that he didn’t want the number of people who knew the truth about his daughter to grow. Jiraiya he could trust. Tsunade he could trust. He could even trust Kakashi.

Luckily, for him, Kakashi had taken an interest in Fuinjutsu. It was only when he had accidentally heard one of his many conversations with his wife on the topic of the sealing that he came forward and offered his assistance. For the next two weeks after that, the boy sent all his spare time reading up on the specific sealing technique.

When the time came for the sealing to be performed, Mikoto had to act as the voice of reason and keep Fugaku and Kakashi from stopping the sealing whenever Kimi screamed in agony.

The sealing was a success.

The night after the sealing Fugaku and Mikoto stayed up almost the entire night, waiting for their daughter’s screams of horror and agony. When the night stay silent and undisturbed, they were able to relax and sleep knowing their little girl was going to be okay.

In the morning, the girl was sad to know her Mina-sensei and Aunty Kushina were no longer with them. Another change they noticed was that she wasn’t avoiding Naruto anymore, and spent almost all her time in the nursery playing with the two baby boys with Itachi. They also noticed that the white haired teen had been easing up and was becoming less tense.

Not all changes after the sealing were good though. Fugaku was an honest leader, and held no secrets from the clan. He informed them of the sealing, and the clan voted that their daughter’s status as an Uchiha be revoked. There were rules and regulations, and just because he was the leader of the clan did not pardon him from following them. “The best leaders lead by example,” is what his father used to tell him.

XxX

“Come on Naruto-kun,” the little girl encouraged, “You can do it!” She had dragged the baby to one side of the room before running to the other side and calling out to him in hopes of him taking his first steps. “Daddy he’s walking,” the dark haired four-year-old called out excitedly, her voice ringing throughout the house.

A blonde fifteen-month-old boy walked unsteadily across the room. He was clad in an orange sleeper and held a stuffed fox in his cubby hands. The boy chewed on the black tipped ear as he concentrated on walking.

 “Keep him walking,” the Uchiha matriarch shouted back, “I need to get my camera!” The sound of paper and plastic bags being thrown onto a table and hurried footsteps followed the woman’s statement.

It was the moment they had been waiting for; the moment when Naruto took his first steps. Mikoto made sure to document every development milestone each of her children hit, her daughter being the only exception, although she more than made up for it with the amount of pictures and videos she took of the girl.

She only wished she had more time to spend with the blonde haired boy that looked so much like her former teammate yet acted exactly like her best friend. Mikoto understood why the boy’s parentage had to remain a secret even though she disagreed. It was all for his safety. But she knew that one day she would be able to pull those photo albums she was making out and share them with Naruto because the boy would find out who his parents were one day and she would be waiting to share stories of their adventures with him and her own children. She couldn’t wait for that day to come.

Running into her bedroom, she went straight over to her nightstand, quickly picked up her camera, and then was on her way to Sasuke and Naruto’s shared bedroom.

Upon entering the room, she let out a squeal of excitement when she caught sight of baby Naruto walking towards her daughter. He looked to adorable for words with his face screwed up in deep concentration. With a smile she held the digital camera up.

SNAP!

Naruto looked dazed at the bright flash of the camera. He wobbled on his feet. Losing his balance, he fell back on his bottom with a loud yelp.

The next thing Mikoto and Kimi knew, a plastic shuriken was sailing across the room before making contact with the blonde baby boy’s head causing him to start crying. Snapping their heads in the direction the toy had come from, the two girls saw Sasuke and Itachi sitting on the other side of the room. Sasuke was looking at Itachi with a large smile on his face and Itachi was holding out toy shuriken and kunai.

“Itachi,” Mikoto shouted at her six-year-old son. Said boy looked up at her with a shocked gaze. His mother never shouted at him, and the fact that she was currently yelling at him stunned him a bit. “Why did you throw that at Naruto?”

“But mom it was Sasuke,” Itachi stated confusedly. The youngest Uchiha hadn’t exactly been stealthy as he threw the plastic toy across the room with near expert precision.

“Oh no you don’t mister,” the woman replied as she crossed her slender arms across her chest and stared down at her oldest child with a hard reprimanding look. “Your bother couldn’t have been the one to throw that. You should know better than to blame your brother or sister for the things you’ve done.” Walking across the room, she picked up Itachi by his arm and dragged him out of the room while mumbling about being put in timeout.

“Sasuke-kun I saw that,” Kimi said to the little boy as he continued to play with the plastic ninja tools his brother had dropped to the floor when he had been forcefully removed from the room. Sasuke responded to her by lugging a toy shuriken at her head. Dodging the toy, the female Uchiha made a mental not to never be around her little brother when it was time for him to start working with real shuriken for fear that he may use her as target practice.

Looking to the side over at Naruto, Kimi saw that the little boy had fallen asleep wrapped in his favorite orange blanket. The girl stood up and made her way over to her baby brother. Putting her hands on her hips she looked down at her brother with a blank face.

“It’s not nice to throw things at your big sister. She may just end up retaliating,” the girl stated in a monotone. She wore the blank look for a few more seconds. When she caught the look of her brother’s frightened face, she allowed a smile to stretch across her face. “Although I’ll let you off the hook this time, baby brother, you did manage to get Itachi in trouble.” She walked out of the room.

Sasuke released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. His big sister could be really scary sometimes. He choked when he saw the girl poke her head back into the room and motion with her fingers that she would be watching him.

With wide eyes Sasuke stood up, grabbed his purple blanket and dragged it into the fort he had built with the help of his older brother. Hopefully, his scary sister wouldn’t be able to get to him inside of his fort built entirely of giant foam puzzle pieces, blankets, and pillows. Just in case she managed to get in, he grabbed Kyo-chan and held him close to his tiny body. He knew that the stuffed green dinosaur his big brother had gotten for him would protect him from any danger. With those thoughts in mind, the boy soon joined his roommate and friend in the faraway land of dreams.

XxX

Shisui was… well he didn’t know exactly what it was that he was feeling at the moment. He knew he was feeling a bit of amazement though. He was amazed at how far his aunt had gone in order to babysit the three brats.

When Mikoto had gone to him the day before informing him that she need him to babysit, he had flat out refused. He remembered her asking him quite a few more times after that, but he always brushed her off saying he had missions to take care of. So when he had gone to the mission’s office to ask for a solo mission  (one of his teammates was in the hospital due to an accident on their last mission, and his other teammate was taking a break while his sensei was dealing with some family drama – apparently the man had some family visiting that really didn’t approve of the career path of a shinobi) he was stunned to see his aunt looking at him with a smirk on her face. Reluctantly he accepted the official mission of babysitting his two cousins plus one from the Hokage. The only thing that got him through the whole ordeal was the fact that he was going to be paid.

That was how he found himself siting in the shared bedroom of one Uchiha Sasuke and Naruto Uzumaki siting at a table and coloring a picture of a fish splashing around in a stream. The messy haired boy used to love coloring when he was younger, he just never expected that he would still be coloring even after he graduated from the Academy. It was all Itachi’s fault. The entrance ceremony to the Academy was being held, and since Mikoto and Fugaku didn’t want to take the boys out in the slightly chilly weather – and for other obvious reasons – Shisui was stuck with the three ankle biters. Yeah, it was all Itachi’s fault even though the boy did absolutely nothing wrong.

Tapping his blue crayon against his lower lip Shisui stared at his charges. Sasuke and Naruto were making Kyo and Kit battle – he didn’t know if they were getting along or fighting again, he just went with the former option. Kimi was laying sprawled out on the floor glaring out the window still upset over something he had no knowledge of.

Looking down at his coloring page he made a half strangled sound deep in his throat. While his thoughts had been wandering off, he had accidentally colored the scales of his fish different colors.  _I guess this guy wanted to be a rainbow fish too,_ the eleven year old thought as he threw the page into the pile of rainbow fish he had accumulated.

XxX

 “Kakashi-kun! Kakashi-kun,” the four year old shouted as she danced through the front door of Kakashi’s studio apartment.

Even though it was late in the afternoon, Kakashi was still laying covered in his plain blue blanket on his futon. The white haired teen made absolutely no movement to indicate that he heard the excited child. He lay on back staring off into space, his gaze directed towards the ceiling.

He blinked as a rather large frog appeared before him. Abruptly sitting up he knock the green creature off his chest causing the creature to let out a squeal. His eyes widened when he realized that the giant frog was in fact a tiny four year old dressed in a frog costume. Looking closely at the little girl, he recognized the costume as the frog suit Jiraiya liked to make his students wear. He vaguely remembered the man trying to persuade him into wear the same costume when he had first been assigned to Minato’s team when he was five. He shivered at the memory.

“Kimi why are you wearing that thing,” the teen questioned as he lifted the girl onto his lap. He made a face as he tried to find the zipper.

“Jiraiya-sama came over today,” the little girl replied with excitement in her eyes. Kakashi found it strange that the girl admired the perverted toad sage as much as she did. “He brought one over for all of us. He wanted us to take pictures. Dad said no, but mom said yes, so we all took pictures in the garden.” Kakashi gave a small laugh at the fact that Fugaku, the mighty leader of the Uchiha Clan, had lost to his own wife. “I really wanted to visit you since I haven’t seen you in like forever, so Jiraiya-sama dropped me off!”

“Why didn’t you change into something more comfortable before coming over,” he questioned.

“But I like this costume,” the girl reasoned, “and I never want to take it off!”

Kakashi choked on his spit. “Are you sure about that?” He really hoped she was joking and not going through one of the phases kids when through when they wore the same outfit for long periods of time.

“Yup,” the Uchiha replied popping the P. “Ooo!”

“What?”

“Can I spend the night,” she asked with wide eyes and a pout. “I promise to be good!”

“You need to ask your mother first,” Kakashi tried to reason.

“I already did,” she chirped causing the boy to sweat drop. “Mommy said yes and daddy said it was okay since it’s date night. What’s date night? Is it like a playdate?”

“Yes it’s kinda like a playdate for grownups,” he answered.

“Really?! Then when I get grown up can we have a date night,” Kimi asked excitedly bouncing up and down making Kakashi freeze.

“Ah, Kimi, you have a date night with someone you like,” the Hatake said a bit awkwardly. Why was it that he always found himself in these types of situations with the girl? Didn’t she ever ask her parents these embarrassing questions? Then again, it was partly his fault. He was the one who always answered her embarrassing questions making her start to rely on him for answers. He could stop at any time and refuse to answer her question, but he just couldn’t find it within himself to say no to her. He blamed it on her large ebony colored eyes that seemed to control him even though he was the one to seal her Sharingan away taking the prospect of hypnosis out of the equation. Did Uchiha children need to have such large eyes or was it only her? He found himself asking that one question a lot.

“I like you,” Kimi stated.

“I meant, you go on a date with someone you love,” he lamented. “We can’t go on a date.”

“But I do love you,” she said. Her lip started to quiver and her eyes watered as she asked, “Don’t you love me too?”

Kakashi’s eyes widened for the second time in the last two hours. “Of course I love you!” he pulled her into a tight embrace as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. “It’s just… you don’t want to go on a date with me.”

“Yes, I do,” she cried.

“When you get older, you’re going to find someone way better than me.”

“No one’s better than you. You’re Kakashi-kun, the best ninja in the village – even better than the Hokage! You could even be Hokage! You’re my best friend!”

 “You’ll fall in love with him.” Why did he feel so cold on the inside when he said that? “Your father will like him too, and your big brother won’t threaten and try to kill him either.”

Sniffing she asked, “Will you like him too?”

“Of course I will,” Kakashi replied, although he got the feeling he wouldn’t like any guy she decided to date or took an interest in.

“I still don’t like it,” the four year old muttered into his chest as she fingered his blanket.

“C’mon little frog, let’s go make something for dinner,” Kakashi stated as he removed the girl from his lap and stood up. He sweat dropped when she crossed her arms and turned her head away from him. “Kimi?” he tried again but she continued to ignore him. “I have cake. It’s chocolate.” That seemed to get her attention but she still refused to look at him. “I’m sorry Kimi, but trust me you will find someone better when you get older.”

“I guess,” the girl muttered downhearted as she followed Kakashi over to the kitchen area of the room. Under her breath, she mumbled, “But no one will ever be better than you.”

“Did you say something,” Kakashi asked from behind the fridge door.

“No,” she answered taking a seat at the small table.

“Hey Kimi whatever happened to Blaze?”

“He went home after the Kyuubi attacked. He said he didn’t want to be a ninja cat anymore. But I still want to be a ninja and save lives!” she shouted with a smile on her face.

“I don’t doubt you will,” Kakashi encouraged with a smile as he set a bowl of rice and a plate of breaded pork cutlets – her favorite – in front of her.

After dinner, the Kakashi worked on finishing his mission report and sharpened ninja tools as Kimi hopped around the room. At around ten, the two went to bed with Kimi curling up at Kakashi’s side still clad in her new frog suit. Kakashi had to admit the girl looked adorable in the frog suit.


	14. Part 1: Things That Are Troublesome

For the third time that day, the Uchiha heir found himself the victim of yet another one of Sasuke and Naruto’s pranks. He blamed his little sister for the boys’ newfound love for the Art of Pranking as she had called it. Out of the two boys, Naruto was the one that took the greatest interest – he figured it was in his blood as he recalled all the pranks a certain redhead played on him and his entire clan.

Itachi lay sprawled out on the ground of the kitchen, his right foot slanted against the cabinet under the sink and his left arm resting against the pillow beside the table.

When the dark haired boy had arrived home from the Academy, he went straight to the kitchen to get an after school drink and a snack. Mikoto hardly ever allowed her children to drink anything carbonated stating that it was bad for the body, so Itachi decided to drink a glass of his favorite soda while his mother was out running errands. The seven year old pulled a glass out from the cabinet above the counter and moved to the freezer to fill the glass with ice. From the cabinet underneath the sink he pulled out a can if cola. When he made to pour the soda in the glass the ice melted quickly from the hot drink causing the soda to completely fizz over almost like an erupting volcano causing Itachi to jump back in shock and slip on the soda that spilled on the floor.

He sighed as he remembered the two other pranks the boys had played on him.

_“Wake up Itachi-chan,” Mikoto’s soft voice called out to the slumbering seven year old. When the boy made no movement, the woman let out a sigh. It would seem that her three children, plus her best friends’ son, were heavy sleepers. Loudly walking over to the window, the black haired woman threw open the curtains letting the morning sunlight stream into the room._

_Itachi flinched as the harsh light met his eyes, and hastily pulled his red blanket over his head to block out the blinding light. A shiver ran throughout his body as his mother pulled the covers from his bed leaving him to face the cool morning air. The boy instantly curled his body into a ball around his pillow trying in vain to preserve the warmth._

_Mikoto shook her head as she walked over to her eldest son and tried to shake him awake but to no avail. Giving up the woman walked out of the room._

_The dark haired boy popped up the second his mother was gone and pulled his blanket back over him hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep. About five minutes later the boy heard small footsteps running down the hall and into his room. He let out a groan as he flipped himself over to face the wall his bed was pushed up against and buried his head in his pillow._

_Itachi’s scream echoed throughout the entire Uchiha District._

_Springing up from his bed the longhaired boy started wide eyed at the two two-year-olds. Sasuke and Naruto wore large smiles as they held on to the buckets that once held ice-cold water that was now all over Itachi and his bed. He took a menacing step forward and the two boys ran out of the room laughing all the way._

_“Nii-san,” Kimi called out to her older brother from where she stood in the doorway, “You’re supposed to take off your clothes before you get in the shower. Just saying.” She spun around on one foot making her white dress fan out wile sticking her tongue out and flashing him the peace sign before running off towards the kitchen._

The second prank didn’t take place until he was at the Academy, although he wasn’t the one to take the direct hit.

 _The Academy instructors had just released their students_   _for lunch break. Most children fled their prisons otherwise known as their classrooms to eat lunch outside, back at home, or a restaurant, while few stayed behind. Among the few who chose to remain within the classroom was one Uchiha Itachi._

_The young Uchiha heir sat at his desk positioned at the center front of the classroom. The boy pulled his lunch box from his shoulder bag and placed it in front of him on the desk. He looked over to the side when he heard the sound of a chair being pulled out to his left._

_"Hi, I'm Hana," the girl who pulled out the seat beside him greeted. She had short chocolate brown hair that fell just past her shoulders, deep onyx eyes, and slightly tanned skin. From the reddish-purple triangular markings that looked like fangs, he could tell that she was from the Inuzuka clan. Before he could reply the girl had already began to talk. "I thought I was the only girl here, but then I saw you! You know, I've never seen you here before. Are you new? You kinda look like someone I've met before, but you can't be her since she should be like five now."_

_Itachi gave the girl a wide-eyed disbelieving look. She thought her was a girl! His hair tie had broken that morning during target practice leaving him having to wear his hair down. Did he really look that much like a girl with his hair down?_

_"Um I'm not a girl," Itachi said shifting uncomfortably in his seat._

_Hana's eyes widened in shock at her mistake as she felt her face begin to heat up in embarrassment._

_"I'm so sorry I didn't... You're really pretty for a boy... Ah I didn't mean it like that!" She stood up hastily grabbing her backpack from the floor. "I'll leave you alone now. I'm so sorry-"_

_"Itachi."_

_"Huh?"_

_"My name is Itachi."_

_"I just called the Uchiha heir a girl”, she screamed in horror. She was about to run away when she felt a hand tug at her wrist._

_“You can sit here if you want,” Itachi stated shyly._

_With a bright smile that made his face turn as red as the Sharingan his clan was known for, Hana plopped back down on the seat next to Itachi. It was awkward or the Uchiha heir to be sitting near the Inuzuka girl. The only girls he was familiar with were his mother and little sister. Trying to be polite, he offered the girl some of the miso soup his mother had packed in his thermos._

_Hana mumbled as she took the thermos. When she removed the lid, three rubber snakes popped out and fell onto the desk effectively scaring her. When the first snake popped out she lifted the thermos and threw it behind her hitting a gray haired boy wearing round glasses._

_“I thought you were different from all the other idiot boys, but you’re a jerk just like them,” the brown haired girl cried slapping Itachi across the face before storming out of the classroom._

_“Hana wait,” the dark eyed boy yelled as he ran after the girl. He almost tripped over one of the rubber snakes on his way out. He picked the offensive toy he remembered seeing in Sasuke’s toy chest and flung it over his shoulder hitting the same gray haired kid with glasses Hana had hit._

He spent the rest of lunch break trying to explain to Hana that he wasn’t a jerk and how the prank was meant for him. Hana eventually told him that she forgave him, but that was only after she had fed his dango to her three dogs.

“Itachi what are you doing on the floor,” Fugaku asked when he saw his oldest child laying sprawled out on the floor.

The dark haired seven-year-old raised his head to look at his father. “Girls are troublesome,” the boy stated before letting his head fall back to the ground.

Fugaku shook his head and walked out of the kitchen. He would let Mikoto deal with whatever was going on with their eldest son.

XxX

The trio stood in the hallway.

It was a standoff.

Two against one.

Naruto and Sasuke against Fugaku.

“Boys,” Fugaku called out catching their attention.

“Tou-san/Ji-chan.”

The leader of the Uchiha crossed his arms and the boys copied his actions. He frowned. They frowned. He gave a sigh. They gave a sigh. He took a threatening step forwards. They fled. He gave chase and eventually caught them by the backs of their shirts.

Sasuke and Naruto screamed and flailed their arms and legs as Fugaku carried them to the room at the end of the hall. Naruto squirmed and was almost dropped, but the dark haired man managed to wrap his arm around the blonde boy’s waist. Sasuke had ended up being carried upside down and tried to kick his father in the face. They refused to go into that torture chamber. Just the other day they had heard Kimi screaming for help in there.

The boys were already two years old and the time had finally come for them to be potty trained, and they were not happy about it. Mikoto and Fugaku had once made the agreement that she would potty train the girls and he would potty train the boy. The downside of it was that Fugaku had to potty train three boys while Mikoto didn’t have to do anything since their daughter already came toilet trained – which he found unfair.

Fugaku walked into the bathroom at the end of the hall and deposited the boys on to the floor before moving to stand in front of the closed door blocking the boys’ only escape.

“Nee-san died in here,” Sasuke wailed as tried to get past his father’s legs.

“Nee-chan eaten by the monster,” Naruto added as he tried to pull the doorknob.

“Kimi did not get eaten by a monster nor did she die,” the man stated in an exasperated tone. “Shisui just forgot to put the lid down and she fell in.”

The boys snickered at their older sister’s misfortune. “Nee-san an idiot.”

“I heard that you jerk,” a voice shouted from the other side of the door.

Sasuke paled at the sound of his sister’s voice and hid behind the laughing blonde boy.

Now that the boys were no longer scared of the toilet, Fugaku took the time to explain how it worked. He grabbed the roll of toilet paper and pulled off a few squares and then threw them into the water before pulling the lever. The boys watched in fascination as the water began to swirl down the hole taking the paper with it before coming back up.

“It’s gone,” Naruto and Sasuke shouted in awe.

“Now you two try,” Fugaku said as he handed the boy some toilet paper and let them repeat his previous actions.

“Fugaku,” Mikoto called her husband.

“What,” he replied but received no response. He knew that whenever she didn’t reply she wanted him to go to her for whatever reason. He looked down at the boys. “I’ll be right back,” he said before leaving.

Mikoto had just wanted to know how the potty training was going.

When Fugaku made his way back to the hall that would take him to the bathroom, he looked down when he stepped in a puddle of water. His dark eyes flowed the trail of water back to the bathroom he had left Naruto and Sasuke in. Picking up his pace he ran to the bathroom and threw the door open.

The sight the greeted him was not a pretty one.

The two two-year-olds were standing on their toes looking down into the toilet that was overflowing with water. The boys were completely bare their diapers were missing, as were their shirts. A toy boat was floating in the toilet. About an inch of water covered the floor, and the water level was rising.

Fugaku rushed in and lifted the two boys by their arms and placed them into the bathtub. He turned around to face the toilet. After rolling up his sleeve he knelt down and stuck his hand in the toilet where he felt something squishy. Pulling it out he found that the squishy object was his son’s stuffed dinosaur.

“Kyo-chan came back,” Sasuke shouted happily.

Picking up the plunger, Fugaku got to work unclogging the toilet.

The Uchiha leader let out a longsuffering sigh. After two hours he had finally managed to unclog the toilet and stop the flooding. After that it took him another hour to clear out all the water. When he finished with the bathroom he had to bathe the boys and only then did he find out that Sasuke had tried to throw Naruto down the toilet to retrieve their lost toys.

“Children are troublesome.”

Mikoto snorted from the entryway to her bedroom. She stared at her husband as he laid on their bed. “Husbands are troublesome.”

XxX

Yet again Kakashi found himself looking after the little Uchiha girl. It wasn’t like he had to look after her. One of the benefits of living in a ninja village was that children could walk around freely without the risk of being in too much danger. He looked after her because he wanted to. He felt the strange need to protect her. That was why he often found himself trying to talk the girl out of the ninja life. He only had less than a year left before it was time for her to join the Academy. He tried pushing her towards random civilian careers, but she never took any interest.

“Ooo!”

“What now,” Kakashi asked.

“Can we go get something to eat there,” the five-year-old asked pointing to a small restaurant.

The building looked old and rundown. The entire building was a dark brown color. Some boards were rotting while some were either missing or about to fall off. Vines concealed the entire front of the building. The windows were clouded with filth keeping them from looking inside. Hanging on the glass door was a sign that said they were open.

“Are you sure about that,” the Hatake asked uncertainly.

“Yes,” she said nodding her head. “Let’s go!” She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him in the direction of the restaurant.

The inside wasn’t any better. The tables and chairs didn’t look like they could hold any weight and would collapse with a single breath. The bar was covered in a thin coat of wax from years of being cleaned with harsh wood polish. The padding on the barstools was ripping and the the padding was coming out. The floorboards weren’t any better and were lifting up in random places. Kakashi considered picking up the five year old and carrying her around. Paint and wallpaper were peeling off the walls.

Even though the place had a dreary appearance, the scent wafting from the kitchen was mouthwatering.

“Hello,” a voice called from the back. Stepping out from the kitchen was a woman who looked to be in her forties. She was an elegant looking woman with her chocolate brown hair and golden brown eyes. She wore her hair up in a messy bun and a plain green kimono top with tan colored pants that fell just below her knees.

“Hi,” Kimi greeted cheerfully.

“Oh well aren’t you adorable,” the woman said when she caught sight of the child. Looking over at Kakashi, she gave him a kind smile. “I’m surprised you two even found this place.”

“Well it was Kimi that found this place,” the white haired teen stated.

“Oh Kimi, what a pretty name,” the woman cooed. “I’m Katsume. And you are?”

“Kakashi,” the teen stated.

“It’s really unfortunate and misleading,” Kimi stated. “He’s not  _that_  ugly.” She let out a yelp when Kakashi smacked her over the head. “So what do you got to eat,” the girl asked bluntly making Kakashi face palm.

“Straight to the point,” Katsume stated. “I like you even more now.” The woman let the two towards the bar where she told them to take a seat and handed them two menus. Looking to Kimi she asked,” Do you need any help reading that?”

“Nope, I already know how to read,” the girl stated swinging her feet back and forth.

“Really,” the woman said, surprise evident in her voice.

“Yup,” she girl replied. “Kaa-san and Tou-san taught me. They said that if I wanted to be a ninja then I need to be able to read.” The white haired teen slumped in his seat although the two girls did not pay any attention. “It was really easy and now I can read those long books without the pictures. Did you know that books are like TVs for your mind? But Kashi-kun won’t let me read his books.” At that, Kakashi’s face turned a bright red and he had never been more thankful for his facemask. Katsume noticed that time and gave the Hatake a curious look.

Soon the two ordered their meals and Katsume got to preparing them. When she was done, she brought their plates to the bar.

“You should really eat more vegetables,” Kakashi stated as he looked at the plate of beef teriyaki over steamed rice.

“Like you’re one to talk,” Kimi retorted eyeing his bowl of oyakodonburi.

“Haha you two are too cute,” Katsume laughed. “I wish I could invite you to back tomorrow.”

“Why can’t we come back tomorrow,” the four year old questioned.

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you this but I’m going out of business and today is my last day open.”

“What! Why,” Kimi cried banging her hands on the counter. Kakashi turned to the woman with a raised eyebrow.

“Sweetie, look at this place. It’s falling apart. It used to belong to my grandparents back in the day. They passed it down to my parents who passed it down to me. I’m not going to lie but I’m no expert when it comes to running a restaurant. Sure I can cook but I’m not the best when it comes to management.”

The Uchiha hummed in thought. She turned her head to look at the Hatake with wide eyes. “No,” he said instantly already having a guess as to what was going on in the little girl’s head. The longer she stared at him the more he felt his resolve weaken before finally shattering when her lower lip began to quiver. “Fine.”

“What’s going on,” Katsume asked amused as she had watched the girl make the boy who was rumored to be coldhearted bend to her will.

“We are going to help you,” the Uchiha exclaimed with a look of determination on her face. “We will come here every day to get this place looking like new.”

“Oh you don’t have to do that,” Katsume said with a grateful smile.

“You don’t have very much of a choice,” Kakashi stated after he swallowed the last bite of his egg and chicken dish making the older woman wonder how she never noticed him remove his mask. “When she sets her mind on something she always pulls through.”

“Alright let’s get started,” the little Uchiha exclaimed thrusting a fist in the air. He stomach grumbled. “… We’ll start after I finish this,” she said picking up her chopsticks.

Katsume’s family restaurant went out of business the following day. The day it went out of business the Hatake and Uchiha returned as promised. Immediately the trio got to work clearing out the building and taming the vegetation.

Three months later, Naruto’s second birthday came.

In the kitchen, the two Uchiha women of the main family worked on making a large two-layered cake and cupcakes. In the back, Itachi and Shisui worked on finishing up on the decorations. In the boys’ bedroom Fugaku and Sasuke worked on keeping Naruto busy and away from the kitchen and backyard.

By five in the afternoon, everything was ready. The Uchiha manor garden was decorated in orange – a color Sasuke was starting to become annoyed with. Orange streamers fell from tree branches, orange lights were wrapped around the trees and in the bushes, orange balloons littered the ground, and orange tablecloths covered the picnic table. Stacked up on one side of the table were colorfully wrapped presents from the now two-year-old blonde.

The second Naruto walked out to the backyard with Kakashi who had shown up late, everyone jumped out and yelled ‘Surprise’ when they saw him. The boy broke out in a wide grin that almost split his face. He ran from the white haired teen and jumped around bubbling with excitement.

Mikoto stood off to the side making sure to capture every moment on her camera and video recorder. It was the last birthday they would be spending with the Uzumaki for a while, but she wanted to be able to revisit those memories with him one day.

“Give me a silly face princess,” she called out to her daughter. She was startled when she caught site of the girl’s face. Apparently, Shisui decided to take up face painting. Kimi’s face was completely white with black making her look like a skeleton. Getting over her shock, she took the picture anyways.

Mikoto soon found her youngest son who had his face painted like a cat and was wearing black cat ears. Itachi had whiskers painted on his cheeks and was wearing some type of animal ears that made him look like his namesake. Naruto’s face was left untouched as he wore his bright red fox ears. Shisui’s face looked like his paint set threw up on him, but he still wore his animal ears a a large smile. Kakashi had even joined in and sported a pair of floppy dog-ears that resembled on of his summons. Feeling left out Mikoto donned a pair of rabbit ears.

Soon Fugaku went inside the house as everyone gathered around the picnic table with Naruto in the center. When the Uchiha patriarch returned, he carried a large two-layered cake covered in bright orange frosting. Everyone sang and wished the Uzumaki a happy birthday before slicing the cake.

Next up were the birthday presents. Mikoto had gotten the boy a black and white sleeping cap she had seen in a shop window. The cap would look like it was eating his head when he wore it and was too big for him, but she was certain he would grow into it. Fugaku took the easy way out and tacked his name onto his wife’s gift to the boy. Kimi, Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke’s gifts were thrown to the side when Kakashi presented the two-year-old with a bright red orange stuffed fox.

The night ended with Shisui putting on a fireworks display.

XxX

Sasuke woke up later than usual the next morning. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up in his toddler bed. Blinking his eyes, he examined his room. The second bed that had always been on the opposite side of the room was gone. The entire right side of the bedroom was bare. The posters were gone. The extra toys were gone, but most importantly the blonde haired boy was gone.

He was completely alone in his room.

In the orphanage on the outskirts of the village, Naruto watched as the other orphans ran around and played through the window of his new room. When he woke up he was scared to find out he was in a strange new place instead of the room he shared with the black haired boy, in the house he shared with his surrogate family.

The Hokage had just left and had informed him that he would be residing in the orphanage for the next three years.

 

On two ends of the village two boy sat in their beds as their tears trailed down their faces. In the time to come they would soon forget about their time spent together, and when they met again they would be nothing more than just strangers that shared a deep bond. 


	15. Part 1: The Strength to Believe

“Oh, it’s beautiful,” cried Katsumi clutching her hands over her mouth when her newly renovated restaurant. She looked over her shoulder at the trio of Uchiha, the Hatake, and the masked ANBU that brought life back to her dream.

The old building that was once completely run down and falling apart was no more. Half way through the cleaning process a spy took refuge in building the resulting battle to capture the man destroyed the entire building, leaving it nothing more than a few wooden posts that had managed to stay standing. Luckily the Sandaime is a kind man and paid for the damage with interest.

After that little incident, Kimi and Katsumi got to drawing up blueprints with Kakashi doing the actual drawing. Kakashi convinced his favorite ANBU subordinate to help him with the building, so when Kimi and Katsumi woke up a few weeks later it was to a fully structured building, and all that was left was to run the electricity and the plumbing before they got to work on the interior design.

During the construction process, Itachi would head over to the incomplete restaurant to help out where he could, and had been assigned to keeping stock of everything, managing the money, and making sure his little sister didn’t go spending happy – even though she liked things simple, she had expensive tastes and was very picky about certain things. After snapping out of his depression, Sasuke joined up with his siblings, either bringing boxed lunches and cold drinks his mother and Katsumi whipped up in the older woman’s kitchen or running small errands and handing the workers the right tools when asked. Even Fugaku made a few appearances to see how far his children had come, and couldn’t help but feel proud of their hard work, but duties as the clan head and chief of police kept him busy the majority of the time. Mikoto often found herself visiting Katsumi’s cozy home on the outskirts of the village to gossip and trade recipes, something she hadn’t done since the loss of her best friend.

After many failed attempts, Kakashi, Tenzo, and Itachi finally figured out how to set up the plumbing and the electricity... that’s what they like to tell themselves. In actuality they had to hire professionals after Itachi accidentally started a fire and Kakashi and Tenzo flooded the building. They were grateful for Tenzo’s Mokuton to fix the damaged floor boards.

When everything was settled and running smoothly, Kimi got to working on the interior design. She wanted it to be a surprise for Katsumi and refused to tell the older woman her ideas. The little five year old took to dragging Kakashi up and down the streets of Konoha – much to the amusement of Tenzo – in search of decorations, tables, chairs, and anything needed for the restaurant. The owner’s shops they visited got great amusement watching the little girl lead two masked ANBU around their shop, and even gave out ridiculous discounts when they caught sight of her wide eyes and bright smile. Tenzo was the most surprised by the young girl’s mastery of manipulation, while Kakashi was glad that he wasn’t on the receiving end for once.

Three weeks before Kimi was to attend her first day at the ninja academy, they unveiled the completed restaurant to Katsumi.

The exterior of the building completely took the woman’s breath away. She delicately brushed tears away from her eyes as she drank up all the details. The building looked the same as it did when she was a child, yet at the same time it didn’t. Smooth faded red stone made up the main outer walls, replacing the white stone of her memories. Large bay windows were on either side of the entryway with cream colored curtains drawn. The walkway leading up to the entrance was free of weeds for the first time in years. The giant solid wood door of the entrance was replaced by two cherry wood doors with large windows. Stones from what had used to be the old building lined the large doors, and the archway above the door was completely new along with the large sign with the restaurant’s name – Katsumi – written in fancy curvy letters.

“The sign was supposed to say ‘Katsumi’s’ but Kaka-baka messed up,” the little girl stated with a pout as she turned to glare at the perpetrator who glared right back at her. “But that’s not all,” Kimi chirped with a smirk. “Just wait till you get a look at the inside.”

With that the Uchiha girl led the woman into the restaurant where she immediately burst into tears. This time Katsumi let her tears run down her face as she looked around. It was perfect. Everything was perfect.

Dark brown wood floors made up the floor. Beside her was a small area where people would wait to be seated. Walking further into the building she held back a gasp as she saw the dining area. Cherry wood beams ran along the ceiling, and crystal chandeliers hung over tables. Red upholstered booths lined the walls to her right and left – as she walked around she noticed they were slightly raised. Round wooden tables with wrought iron legs of various sizes filled up the main floor with red upholstered chairs surrounding them. Cream colored tablecloths covered the tables where plates, bowls, and cutlery were positioned at each seat. To the back was a bar with a light gray granite counter. Behind the bar she found the entrance to the kitchen which was every chef’s dream come true.

Katsumi walked out from the kitchen to see the people who breathed life back into her dreams sitting at the bar – the masked ANBU being the only exception. Little Sasuke was trying to get his older brother’s attention while Itachi was too busy trying to set the white haired man on fire with his eyes while Kakashi was making fun of the masked ANBU while Tenzo was arguing with Kimi who was seated on Kakashi’s lap. She looked at them with a fond smile. When she looked at the door she caught sight of a little blonde boy staring at the group with longing eyes filled with sadness. She blinked and when her eyes opened he was gone.

She turned her head to the side and caught sight of a staircase leading up to the ceiling. Walking over she gripped the wrought iron rail and slowly made her way up the stairs up to the rectangular wooden door. Opening the door she was surprised yet again. The stairs had led her to a rooftop garden. In the center of it all was a large three tiered fountain that glittered in the sunlight.

“You could have parties up here,” a small voice said from behind her. She really needed to stop being so surprise when people suddenly started speaking to her. She had lived in a ninja village all her life and this little girl she suspected must be from one of the oldest ninja clans in the village.

“Yeah,” the brown haired woman said as she envisioned hosting cocktail parties or romantic dinners. She turned her head to face the child who was staring at the Hokage Monument. “Did you see-“

“His name’s Naruto,” Kimi stated. “He the sweetest boy you’ll ever meet. He has this gift of bringing people together. Whenever he smiles you can’t help but smile along with him.”

“But isn’t he-“

“Do you really believe that?”

Katsumi stayed quiet. “No, I don’t. The Hokage said that the Kyuubi was sealed within him. He’s only the jailer. That boy is a hero.”

“Thank you,” the dark haired girl said with a smile.

“My cousin and I both believe that.”

“Your cousin?”

“Teuchi, he owns that ramen shop further up the street.”

“He’s your cousin,” the Uchiha asked shocked.

Katsumi laughed. “Let’s get back downstairs.”

The grand opening was held two weeks later. The Uchiha main family attended along with other members of the clan and other clans. Katsumi’s was a big hit and got many reservations after its first day. Katsumi would only grow to be one of the more high-end restaurants in the village in the years to come.

XxX

She had one day left before her first day at the Academy, and she was a nervous wreck. The five year old sat on the grassy area beside the lake where her father had taught her, her first Katon Jutsu. Her knees were pulled up to her chest with her small arms wrapped underneath the bend in her knees. She stared out at the shimmering lake with a blank stare.

“Imouto, what are you doing here,” Itachi questioned as he made his way up to his little sister.

“I don’t want to go to the Academy,” Kimi whined, resting her head atop her knees.

Itachi was stunned into silence. For as long as he could remember, his little sister had always looked forward to her first day attending the Academy. She wanted nothing more than to graduate and become a respected Shinobi like their mother and aunt. She also knew that once she received her headband then her rivalry with Tsunade would finally become real. She would also be able to fight alongside Kakashi, much to his frustration. So why would she suddenly change her mind?

“I’ll be in the same class as Yozora, and she hates me.”

“You mean Shizuka-san’s daughter,” the older boy questioned as he plopped down beside the girl. She nodded in affirmative.

Uchiha Yozora was the daughter of Uchiha Shizuka, the woman who was once engaged to his father but had all her plans of marrying Fugaku destroyed with the unexpected birth of Itachi. One year later the woman had gotten pregnant and claimed Fugaku to be the father. Thanks to various tests Yozora was proven not to be Fugaku’s daughter and a year later Mikoto found that she was expecting a baby girl.

“She’s says I shouldn’t even be alive, and tells me to crawl back into the hole I came from. She even makes the other kids be mean to me,” Kimi cried. “She’s the one that tricked me into getting lost in the forest all those years ago.”

Itachi knew she was just exaggerating, since the incident was only about three years ago. He also knew that Shizuka must still be bitter, taking in all the dirty looks she sends his way into consideration. She probably blames him for ruining her chances of marrying his father, which in truth he kind of did,

“Just ignore her,” Itachi stated after some time. “She’s just jealous-“

“What does she have to be jealous of?” Kimi exploded, jumping to her feet. “She’s pretty. She’s tall like all the other girls. She doesn’t wake up looking like a monster is eating her head. Some even stay that she’s our sister.” Her head was hanging low. “No one is ever mean to her. Everyone in the clan loves her. Most importantly she get to be recognized as a part of the clan, while I have to pretend not to know you guys whenever we go out into the village.” She looked up at her brother with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “I’m not part of the clan. I’ll never be part of the clan. I was adopted. So why do I have to live in the Uchiha District?”

Itachi could do nothing other than watch his little sister run away with tears streaming down her face. It was true. She would never be recognized as part of the clan without her Sharingan. But if she had her Sharingan the memories it held would destroy her completely. It was also true that she was adopted.

The Uchiha Heir wished his family was a normal family. A family that was not part of any clan. Maybe they could have been farmers. His mother would tend to the animals and his father harvest the latest crop while he and his two siblings would run wild through the fields. He laughed at the thought of Kakashi acting as his namesake and Shisui getting trampled by the cows.

His laughter died down. It was only a fantasy that would never happen. They were part of a clan, the Uchiha clan to be precise. No matter what they did, it was for the clan. It was always about the clan. He only wished he was strong enough to protect his family. His mother and father, his little brother and sister, and his idiotic cousin.

The Uchiha clan had ceased to be a family long ago.

XxX

“Senpai,” the ANBU wearing a porcelain mask with the face of a cat called out to his squad leader for what he felt was the millionth time, only to be ignored yet again as his white haired captain giggled, flipping a page in his little orange book. “Captain!”

His white haired captain was lounging on a tree branch with his back hunched over and one foot swinging back and forth while the other was bent at the knee. Kakashi could hear his subordinate just fine, but chose to ignore the younger teenager. When he heard the younger man’s retreating footsteps, he let out a sigh, removed his white flak jacket, and leaned back against the bark of the tree. It was one of their rare days off. For once Kakashi just wanted to relax and enjoy the day, but Tenzo wanted to train.

The white haired sixteen year old rubbed his back against the tree to rid himself of the itch he had acquired while he was too busy trying to ignore Tenzo. When the itch was gone he resumed reading the book he had accidentally received from his sensei. His sensei had thought it was a book similar to the he chose his son’s name from and told Kakashi he could read it first, only the blonde man didn’t know it was a part of a new series his sensei was working on. Needless to say the former redheaded Jinchuriki was enraged when she found out what her husband had given to their white haired twelve year old.

Their white haired twelve year old. That was another of the things Kakashi would argue about with his sensei and the man’s wife. Kushina and Minato always claimed that they adopted him when he. Kakashi would always argue that it was impossible to adopt a Genin and Kushina would always say that it was perfectly fine to adopt a five year old. If he could go back he wouldn’t argue and agree to be their son.

Minato was a lot like his father in the way he hovered and worried over even the smallest of things. His father would often push him to make friends, and Minato had done the every same.

He never knew his mother and he was glad he didn’t. He didn’t want to get to know a woman that would run off on her family in the middle of the night only leaving a letter saying she couldn’t handle motherhood. When he met Kushina, it was a major shock. The woman treated him in a way that was completely alien to him. She cared about him and loved him. She held him when he cried and never judged him or made him feel unwanted. She was the mother he never had.

Maybe one day he could be like an older brother to their son. Because if Kushina and Minato’s claim to having adopted him was true, then that would make him Naruto’s older brother. That thought surprised him. He had been watching Itachi interact with his younger siblings and had imagined what it would be like if he had that same relationship with the blonde boy.

Maybe it could happen one day in the future when the boy was older. But he was still afraid. He was afraid that his curse that caused all the people close to him to die would affect the boy. He couldn’t risk that. Or what if the boy hated him for not being able to save his parents. He didn’t know.

He shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. Why was it every time he thought of the past, it took a turn for the worst?

Maybe Obito was right and he was a Drama Queen. King. He was not a queen, he was a Drama King.

Kakashi frowned. Why was he even contemplating that?

He snapped his head to the side. He had heard leaves crunching and twigs snapping. It could be an en- nope he saw a flash of black and green. Pastel green he had been informed by the girl.

“Yo, Kimi,” Kakashi called out to the little girl. He took note of how she jumped in surprise before freezing in place. _Hmm, I thought she would have noticed me already._ He watched her as she turned her head to the side to see who had called out to her. When their eyes met, she immediately tore her away and continued running. He suddenly felt as if he was on the receiving end of one of Tsunade’s enraged punches meant for Jiraiya. The little girl was crying. He saw the pain and sadness in her eyes.

Quickly he stuffed his book in his pants pocket and took off after her, completely forgetting about his white ANBU flak jacket and dog mask. After a few long strides he caught up to the girl, who was surprisingly fast, and scooped her up in his arms from behind. He struggled as he tried to get her to calm down. He tightened his grip around her small body and pulled her close to his chest. She finally stopped struggling but her tears never stopped, and they soon turned into sobs. Kakashi allowed himself to fall to the ground, sitting against the trunk of a random tree.

She had once held him while he cried, now it was time for him to return the favor.

It seemed almost as if an entire day had passed, when in actuality it was an hour, when her sobs slowed to small hiccups.

Kakashi placed his hand on her head as he held her tightly to his chest. The sound of his beating heart doing wonder to calm the girl’s tears. She gave a final sniff, before turning her head upwards to look the white haired teen in the eyes. Kakashi moved his hands from the back of her head and her lower back to cup her cheeks using the pads of his thumbs to wipe away her tears.

“I don’t think I’ll be a good ninja,” Kimi spoke, breaking the silence.

“You’ll be a great ninja.”

She dug her fingers into Kakashi’s shoulders. “I’m not a real Uchiha.”

 “You are a real Uchiha.”

“I’ll never be strong like Nii-san or Otouto will be.”

“They often say that siblings rival each other in strength.”

“Yozora should have been Tou-san’s daughter, but he got stuck with a failure like me.”

“You are not a failure. You just take a little longer than others to learn things. Your father is proud to have you as a daughter. He loves you not this Yozora girl.”

“Everyone in the clan loves Yozora and they hate me.”

He had nothing to say because he knew that it was the truth. The clan hated the little girl and perceived her as a threat.

“What did I do to make them hate me so much?”

He couldn’t tell her that the reason they hated her was because she wasn’t supposed to be alive. That she was supposed to be dead.

“Why do I have to pretend not to know everyone when we’re out in the village?”

He didn’t know what to say because not even he fully understood. He only knew that it was to protect her. To protect her from being experimented on. He knew that if anyone were to find out who she really was then they would ask questions as to how she was alive. As far as the public was concerned, Mikoto and Fugaku’s daughter had died during birth.

“It’s not fair!”

He knew it wasn’t fair every time he looked into her longing eyes. People would suspect something was wrong if the Uchiha main family were to suddenly shut themselves away in the Uchiha District. They were already under enough suspicion since the Kyuubi’s attack.

“Why me?”

He often found himself wondering the same thing. Why her? What did she ever do to deserve any of this? She didn’t choose to be brought back, someone else did.

“I didn’t do anything wrong!”

She never did anything wrong. She had great manners and was always respectful. She smiled and helped out wherever she could, even though she sometimes made a few mistakes due to her clumsiness.

Kakashi suddenly felt colder when he realized that she wouldn’t be the only person he cared about who felt this pain.

“I don’t know what to say to change your mind, but just hear me out. When you think about it, it all comes down to your strength. Prove to yourself first that you have what it takes to be a great ninja. When you’ve proven that you have what it takes, then you can prove to the clan that you have what it takes to be an Uchiha. I have no doubt in my mind that you’re better than this Yozora. But before you can prove that you belong in the clan or are better than Yozora, you have to prove to yourself that you have what it takes. That means no more running away. There were many times when I wanted to quit and just give up, but that would have been too easy. You can’t just quit when faced with an obstacle, you have to find a way to overcome it even when it seems like all hope is lost. And from every obstacle you overcome you get that much stronger. Some say that true strength comes from when you fight for someone else. I know you have people you want to protect, right?”

She nodded her head. She thought of her little brother, her older brother, her parents, Naruto, Kakashi, Jiraiya, her rival Tsunade, Shisui, the girl she met at the park, the masked ANBU with the weird eyes, Katsumi, the children who were actually nice to her, the old people she had met, even the members of her clan, Old-Man Hokage, and all the other villagers. She wanted to protect them all. But could she really protect them all.

“I don’t think I can do it.”

“I know you can do it.” Kimi stared at him with wide eyes.

“How?” He gave her his famous eye smile.

“Because I believe in you.”


	16. Part 1: First Day

After her small breakdown in the forest, Kimi spent the rest of the day with Kakashi. She refused to leave the safety and security she felt while being held in the white haired ANBU’s arms. She knew she was acting like a spoiled brat, but she couldn’t help it. He was one of the few people who understood her. He actually listened to what she had to say. He wasn’t rude or cruel. He was kind and caring. He actually cared about her. He believed in her.

That was how she found herself spending the night over at his apartment. She refused to go home. Even though she wanted to see her parents and her brother, she wasn’t ready to face the harsh reality of what her standing with the clan was. She couldn’t face their glares and whispered words.

Kakashi was right when he said not to run away anymore, and to face obstacles head on, but it could wait until tomorrow. Right now she was too comfortable curled up to the Hatake’s side with her head resting on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

She didn’t know why, but she found that listening to his heartbeat had a strange calming effect on her. She remembered the day she made that revelation. It was before Sasuke and Naruto were born and Rin was there. She’d always been a rather hyper and blunt child – her mother was extremely blunt – with a bit of a temper – her father had a bad temper. That’s why it’s a common sight to see her running around all over the place like she was on a sugar high.

She had been extra hyper that day for some unknown reason, and no matter how many times they told her to settle down she would not listen. Her father was about ready to pull out his hair, and even Minato was trying to get her to calm down. Her mother and Rin were busy in the kitchen and Kushina was cheering her on. The second Kakashi walked into the backyard of the Uchiha main house, Kimi latched onto him like a koala and wouldn’t let go. After resting her head on his chest listening to his shocked heartbeat she felt herself calming down as his heart began to beat at a steady pace. The girls and Minato thought it was the most adorable thing in the world, while Fugaku and Itachi were dismayed.

It shocked Kakashi the most. He wasn’t the touchy-feely type, and found it strange that he was able to comfort this little girl the way he could.

He shifted to his left side, making sure to not rustle the sleeping child. She was so tiny. Her eyelids fluttered while she dreamed. He was sure she was on some crazy adventure where she was the hero. Her lips twitched downward, and her eyebrows creased. The white haired teen brought his right arm up and used it to pull her closer. Her eyebrows relaxed and her lips parted slightly as she exhaled. Bending his right arm, he brought his hand up to grasp her tiny left hand that was gripping the fabric of his shirt. Rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, he watched her lips curved upwards in a smile and buried her face in his chest.

Every time he blinked his onyx eyes, he found it hard and harder to open them. He eventually gave in and let his eyes droop shut. His breathing becoming deeper with every breath, and before he knew it he was joining the little Uchiha in the land of dreams. It would be a night filled with dreams of the past that didn’t take a dangerous turn – something that only ever happened when she was near.

All too soon the first rays of the morning sun made their way through the window and into the eyes of the sleeping Uchiha and Hatake. The white haired sixteen year old slung his right arm over his face in order to shield his eyes from the harsh light while the black haired five year old flipped over onto her stomach and hid her head under the arm she had been using as a pillow.

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

The two groaned as the beeping of the alarm clock reached their ears.

“Do I have to,” the little girl whined when the arm shielding her face from the light was removed.

“Yes,” the teen stated simply, although he felt the exact same way as the girl on the inside but she didn’t need to know that. He stood up and stretched. “I’ll go make you some breakfast.”

“No,” Kimi said quickly.

“You need to eat,” Kakashi warned.

“It’s not that.” She was looking anywhere but at him.

“Then what is it,” the Hatake questioned crossing his arms and peering down at the small girl.

“You… You’re… uh…” She didn’t know what to say. Well, she knew what she wanted to say. It was just that she didn’t know how to say it. “You’re not the very best cook, if it doesn’t involve a rice cooker.” There she said it. She lifted her head up to be met with the sight of Kakashi’s wide eyes and mouth hanging open. She really wished he had put on his mask, so at least some of his shock would’ve been hidden… not really considering she knew how to read his every flicker of emotion through his mask.

“I can cook,” Kakashi managed to get out.

“No you can’t,” she said. Once she said it the first time it was easier to say it the second time. “Last time you made breakfast, you burnt the toast and the eggs were runny.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“Then the time you tried to make breaded pork cutlets… or was it chicken? Anyways whatever it was, it was still pink on the inside. It’s not supposed to be pink, ever. Oh, and the time you tried to make miso soup you forgot about it on the stove and it completely evaporated. Then-“

“Kimi,” Kakashi said raising his voice slightly. With every reminder of his failed cooking attempts pointed out, he felt like he was being stabbed by giant arrows with the word ‘FAILURE’ written on them in bold letters. “I get it. I’m not the best cook, but do you have to be so blunt about it?”

“Yes.”

“Well, at least you’re honest,” he said sighing, running a hand through his unruly bedhead. “I will make sure to watch the food carefully this time, okay?” He didn’t like the way she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Eventually she shrugged her shoulders.

“Alright,” she said hoping to her feet. She bent over backwards, and grabbed her ankles poking her head out from under her legs. She then placed her hands on the floor and lifted her legs straight into the air. Bending her arms at the elbows, she sprung into the air and performed a backflip before landing clumsily on her feet. “Now I’m ready!”

“Do you have to do that every morning,” Kakashi questioned.

“It freaks Sasuke out,” was her reply. Every time she would contort her body in an odd way Sasuke would think she was broken and start crying.

The white haired teen shook his head at the girl and tossed her the bag with her clothes before walking towards the kitchen to attempt to make breakfast.

Five minutes late Kimi was dressed in a long sleeved blue T-shirt that could almost pass for a dress and a pair of black pants and a pair of blue ninja sandals. She spun around on one foot as she asked, “What do you think?”

“You look like a ninja,” Kakashi said with a chuckle. “Now,” he placed a plate on the small table, “What do you think?”

Kimi quickly jumped onto the offered chair and lifted her fork. She stared at the contents of her plate. “I guess you aren’t good at everything.”

“What? The eggs aren’t runny-“

“They’re burnt. Like charcoal.”

“- and the toast isn’t burnt.”

“It’s not even toasted. It’s just bread.”

The two stared down at the food on the plate.

“I have instant ramen.”

“That’ll do.”

XxX

Her legs were shaking as the giant building loomed over her. Kakashi had long since dropped her off at the entrance gate of the Academy before heading to the ANBU HQ to prepare for any missions he may have. She told him she’d be fine, but that was a bold faced lie. She was terrified. What if the other kids were mean to her like the ones from the clan? Sure, she had met them all during orientation, but there were parents there. They wouldn’t bully her in front of their parents.

What was it that Kakashi had said to her? _I can’t run away when I get scared. I have to face my fears and overcome them. Then I’ll become strong, and when I’m strong, I’ll have finally proved that I’m a real Uchiha. You can do this. Kakashi believes in you. The best ninja in the world believes in you._ She took a deep breath before taking a step towards the front doors of the academy. _I can do this!_

With her spirits high after her little pep talk, she ran straight through the Academy doors and towards her classroom. She slid the door of her classroom open. When she took a step her foot got caught on one of the floorboards that was slightly lifted. She quickly threw her hands out in front of her. Pain trailed up her arms by the sudden impact and she let out a strangled squeak of pain.

Her head snapped up when she heard someone gasp. Her eyes met with a familiar pair of ebony eyes.

“What a loser,” an all too familiar voice called out, causing her to redirect her attention and making all the other students – aside from one – in the classroom laugh at her misfortune.

It was none other than Uchiha Yozora. The girl stood atop her desk in the center of the classroom. Her short straight black hair framed her round face. Her skin was pale. Her pink lips were pulled up in a smirk. Her black eyes were glinting with malicious intent – wait… what?

It was a strange feeling. She never paid much attention to it, but she could feel the older girl’s malicious intent directed towards her. She had felt killer intent before, but this new feeling was nothing like it. It was the feeling she got when she was in the Uchiha District but on a smaller scale… a way smaller scale. When she was away from the clan or with Kakashi she never remembered feeling it. What was it?

She looked around the classroom as she snakingly rose to stand. No one else seemed to notice it.

Before she could think too much into it, the instructor walked into the room. The man ushered her to take the only available seat which happened to be behind Yozora and next to Inuzuka Hana.

“Are you okay,” the brown haired girl whispered.

“Yeah,” she sighed.

“I thought you guys were from the same clan,” Hana muttered. “Why would she be-“

“We’re not from the same clan,” Kimi whispered to the girl beside her.

“That’s right,” Yozora chimed in, turning around in her seat to glare at the black haired girl. “She’s just a lonely orphan with no place to call home.”

“You little-“

“Hana-chan,” Kimi cut the girl off before she could say something she would regret. “It’s true.” She wanted to cry. She hated this rule. The rule that she had to pretend that she was an orphan. She had parents but she just couldn’t say who they were. She took a deep breath. _One day it won’t matter anymore, and I won’t have to be the Secret Uchiha._

“Fine, but only cause you’re here,” the Inuzuka girl stated. “If she says something and you’re not her, I’ll punch her.”

Yozora narrowed her dark eyes at the heiress to the Inuzuka Clan and turned back around in her seat.

“So… Kimi, aren’t you like two years younger than me,” Hana questioned.

“Yeah, but I tested as advanced,” Kimi replied.

“Damn you Uchiha really are a clan of prodigies,” the brown haired girl commented.

“I’m not-“

“Kimi, I may not know what’s going on within that clan, but I know you’re one of them. I won’t pry, and you can trust me when I say that I won’t tell anyone else.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Us heiresses got to stick together.”

“How-“

“I kinda figured it out when you accidentally referred to Uchiha Itachi as Nii-san,” the older girl said with a smile.

Kimi blushed at the reminder of her slip of the tongue. She thought she had caught herself in time, but apparently she was wrong.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m not going to rat you out to anyone. I actually like you… and it’s go to know that I have at least one friend. It kind of hard making friends when you’re the heiress of a clan. Especially the heiress of the Inuzuka Clan. All the other girls are afraid to get dirty, but you… you jumped in a mud puddle just because it looked like fun! You’re different and I like that. Before I met you I thought all the Uchiha were stuck up snobs like Queen Bee over there,” she stated pointing at Yozora.

“Most of them are though, but I know they’re nice people on the inside,” Kimi tried to defend her clan, but it was hard. “I know my mother’s really nice. So is Tou-san although he doesn’t show it much out in public. Nii-san is the best big brother ever, and Otouto is always so happy and full of energy, and Shisui-nii is really funny and a little bit crazy.”

“It’s okay,” Hana gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m sure they’re all nice people deep, deep, deeeeeeep down at the very bottom of their souls.”

Kimi laughed.

“Being in a clan sucks,” Hana groaned as she let her head plop down on the desk.

“Agreed.”

The morning portion of the class went by quickly.

The instructor introduced himself as Mori-sensei. He was a large man with dark brown hair and forest green eyes. He wasn’t large as in he was overweight, he was large as he towered over the entire teaching staff.

He then went around the room pointing at his students asking them to introduce themselves to the rest of the class.

When it was her turn, Kimi stood up. Her hand were shaking as everyone turned their attention on her. This was just another obstacle to overcome.

 She slammed her hands down on the desk, letting her eyes roam over everyone in the room. “My name is Kimi. I have a lot of like and not many dislikes. I have a dream… no… not a dream. An ambition because I will make sure it happens, no matter how much I fall or struggle. I will become a respected Shinobi and medic-nin, one that will rival Senju Tsunade and fight beside Hatake Kakashi! And I will end this curse of hatred!”

Everyone was staring at the youngest girl in the classroom with either wide eyes, dropped jaws, or both. Senju Tsunade was one of the legendary Sannin, and Hatake Kakashi was the prodigy that set the standard that no one has been able to reach. The two were legendary ninja. The lists of their accomplishments could stretch on for miles. There was no way she could ever get to their level.

They misunderstood her last statement. When she said she would end the ‘Curse of Hatred,’ she had meant to break whatever curse it was that had been placed on her to make her clan hate her so much. What they thought she meant, was that she wanted to put an end to all the hatred surrounding the five nations. The only ones who truly understood what she had meant were Hana and Yozora. Hana would do her best to help her friend succeed, while Yozora would do whatever it took to make sure she failed.

“What a joke,” Yozora said loudly. “As if you could ever do any of that. You can’t even walk into the classroom without tripping.” At that the other students remembered her earlier mishap and burst into laughter.

The bell rang signaling the end of the morning classes. Kimi wasted no time in running up the steps and out the door, ignoring Hana’s attempts to stop her.

She kept running until she slammed into a solid object. She bounced backwards and landed on her backside. Looking up she saw that the solid object, which turned out to be her older brother, had done the same.

“Imouto you should really watch where you’re going,” the older Uchiha chided with a small frown as he got back up to his feet. He extended a hand out to his little sister and pulled her upright when her smaller hand gripped his. He got a good look at her face and his frown deepened. “What happened?”

“Yozora-“

“Stop,” Itachi commanded. He didn’t want to hear it. He had had enough of Yozora and her tirade of terror. He placed his hand on his sister’s head and ruffled her hair – something he often did to show affection and annoy her at the same time.

“Nii-san,” Kimi whined as she tried to remove his hand from her head. When he finally did she muttered a quiet, “Jerk.”

“I heard that.”

“You were meant too.”

“Ah, Kimi I finally found you,” the brown haired Inuzuka girl panted as she tried to catch her breath.

“Hana-chan,” the Uchiha girl exclaimed as the older girl fell on to her knees.

“I thought my puppies were fast,” she wheezed out. Lifting her head she eyed the boy standing beside Kimi wearing a red baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. “Who are you?”

“I’m I…Uh… my name’s… umm,” Itachi stammered. He was about to say his real name until her remembered that they were out in public. “I’m Shitake.” He did his best to ignore the strange face his sister was giving him.

“Like the mushroom,” Hana asked. At that Kimi couldn’t hold it in anymore and fell into a fit of giggles.

“Eh, yeah,” Itachi confirmed.

Hana shrugged. “Hey Kimi wan’na join me for lunch?”

“Sounds fun.”

“You can join us too Itachi-kun,” the brown haired girl said looking over her shoulder. She gave a light laugh at the Uchiha prodigy’s shocked face. “You do remember we were in the same class before you graduated, right? So are you gonna join us?”

“I can’t,” Itachi informed the two girls. His sister just shrugged her shoulder while Hana’s eyes seemed to dim as she pouted. “I have a… a… thing… catch that…little animal… uhh…” the boy got out. He could feel the heat creeping up his neck and on the tips of his ears.

“You mean a mission to catch an animal,” Hana guessed.

“Yeah… that,” the boy said.

“Well, good luck,” Hana said with a smile before skipping away to give her friend some time with her brother.

Kimi stared at her only girl friend’s back and then to her brother who continued to stare in her direction. She saw his eyes follow every swish of her ponytail. A cheesy smile formed on her face.

“You love her,” she sang in her brother’s ear.

“What?“ Itachi looked at the smaller girl after tearing his eyes away from Hana’s long brown hair. “You’re crazy!”

“Nii-san’s in love,” she said sighing dreamily.                

“Baka, baka, baka,” Itachi chanted as he grinded his fists onto the sides of his sister’s head, making her flail her arms and try to escape.

"This is abuse!”

“Idiotic little sister!”

XxX

Kimi and Hana spent their hour lunch break in the kitchen of Katsume’s restaurant. The woman was thrilled that her favorite customer had finally made a real friend. She even let them try samples of some new dishes she was working on, and sent them back to the Academy with packages of sweets.

When they got to the classroom they immediately took their seats. Mori-sensei had placed worksheets on their desks facedown. Once the last of the students trickled in, he shut the door. After getting everyone’s attention, he explained that they were to complete the worksheet and once finished head out to the training grounds in the back of the building.

Kimi quickly flipped the paper over and wrote her name at the top. She read the first question, and her mind went blank. She didn’t understand any of what the questions were asking. Sure she got to jump right in to the advanced classes because of her skill level, but she was never any good at taking tests. She always got nervous and would start to panic. She was good during training, but did horribly when tested.

_Just another obstacle to overcome._

She cleared her mind and answered the questions to the best of her ability. Once she had filled out the last answer, she placed her pencil back in her white book bag. She then picked up the sheet of paper and walked over to where her instructor stood at his desk. After she handed him the paper she made her way outside the classroom where she met up with the Inuzuka girl.

“How do you think you did,” Hana asked, as the two walked towards the training grounds.

“I’m not very good at taking tests,” Kimi admitted looking down at her feet.

“At least you tried right,” the brown haired girl said encouragingly.

“What do you think we’re going to do out here,” the Uchiha asked when they reached the training grounds.

“Well since we took a written test, I’m pretty sure we’re going to do a physical test now. You know, hitting targets and sparring. They did this at the beginning of last year too. They’re trying to figure out where our strengths are and all that.”

“But didn’t we already take the entrance exams. I mean, that’s how they decided which classes we would be in.”

“Yeah, but that was more… how do you say it? It was just to get a feel to where you are. Now were going to get more into the specifics. If that makes any sense.”

Kimi pursed her lips in thought then nodded her head in understanding.

“Okay kiddies, get into a line,” Mori-sensei said as he walked out in front of the clusters of children. He stood silently as he watched the ankle biters do as he said. Once they were in a single line, he picked up the cardboard box that was on the ground beside him and started to hand out the weapons pouches inside it. He gave one to each student. Inside the pouches were ten kunai and ten shuriken – the basic ninja weapons. “Now I want you to form three lines in front of those targets.” Again he watched as the children moved to follow his orders. He pulled out his clipboard and a pen. “When you step up to the line, I want you to give me your name. When I’ve given you the okay, I want you try to hit the target as many times as you can. Understood?” He waited for the confirmation before telling the first group to step up.

By the seventh group, it was Kimi and Hana’s turn… and Yozora’s.

“Inuzuka Hana.”

“Kimi.”

“ _Uchiha_ Yozora,” the rotten girl said making sure to look Kimi in the eyes as she said her name. The six year old smirked as she received the reaction of gritted teeth from the daughter of the clan head.

“Okay you three may start,” Mori sensei informed the three completely oblivious to exchange between the two black haired girls.

The three girls walked up to the line drawn in the dirt, removed their weapons from the pouches they carried and took aim. Yozora made sure to give Kimi a bright smile every time she hit the target, which served its purpose to anger the younger girl. Kimi ended up only hitting the actual target three out of ten times with the kunai and one out of ten with the shuriken. Hana hit the target six out of ten times with the kunai and five out of ten four out of ten times with the shuriken. Yozora managed to hit the target every time and hit ten out of ten with both kunai and shuriken.

 After the last group had taken their turn, Mori informed them that taijutsu would be their next and final test of the day. Picked two students randomly from the list and called them up for their spar. When the first two were up he made an example of them. He then showed them how to make the Seal of Confrontation and Seal of Reconciliation. Once that was over, he let the sparring commence.

Hana was in the second group. She stood opposite of a boy with dark brown hair and wild eyes. The two had the same red-purple fang-like markings on their cheeks. When they faced each other, the boy looked slightly fearful going up against the clan head’s daughter, but that fear quickly passes after receiving a smile of encouragement from the girl.

The two smirked as they lifted two fingers in the air. Once Mori had nodded his head giving the okay, the two flew at each other in a flurry of kicks and punches. Hana seemed to have the upper hand in speed. The boy managed to get behind her and grabbed her wrist bending it and using his weight to pin the girl to the ground.

“Inuzuka Kyo wins,” Mori stated.

The boy quickly jumped to his feet and did a quick victory dance. Hana smiled at him from the ground and was surprised when he offered her his hand. She took it and he lifted her up. The once again faced each other and made the seal of Reconciliation.

Kimi waited… and waited for her turn. Her dread began to grow as she realized that Yozora still hadn’t been called up yet either. Her fears were brought to fruition when the second to the last group was called up and she nor Yozora were part of it. She was disappointed when the fight was ended as soon as it started.

Mori declared the fight a draw and called up the last group – Kimi and Yozora.

The two girls made the Seal of Confrontation like all the groups before them. The younger of the two squared her shoulders while the older of the two smirked in anticipation.

The nod was given. The two girls took off in a sprint. Both wore looks of determination. The five year old threw herself backwards using her hand to keep herself from making contact with the ground as Yozora’s punch soared over her. She was going to attempt to kick the older girl when Yozora changed course and used Kimi’s stomach as a springboard and performed a one-handed cartwheel. Kimi’s back hit the ground and she left out a grunt of pain as Yozora landed in a crouch behind her.

Kimi jumped up to her feet, but was knocked right back down as the older girl slammed her fist into her face. From her knees Kimi spring-jumped and tackled Yozora. Kimi had the older girl pinned as she sat on her stomach and restrained her wrists.

The match was about to be called, but an enraged Yozora managed to buck her hips making the smaller girl lose her grip on her wrists. She flipped them over – Kimi now being the one pinned to the ground. The older Uchiha wasted no time as she began her relentless assault on the younger girl. Punch after punch landed on the five-year-old girl’s face. Kimi struggled to break free but to no avail and settled for trying to cover her face.

Yozora didn’t stop and only stopped when Mori-sensei lifted her off the girl. But even then he had to pry the seven year old’s arms that were wrapped around younger girl’s neck in a chokehold.  The match ended with Yozora declared as the victor.

Hana helped her fallen friend up to her feet, checking her over for injuries. She couldn’t tell if there were any bruises on her arms and legs due to her long sleeves and pants. Her face and neck were a different story. A large bruise was starting to take form around her neck. Her right eye was starting to swell, there was the beginning of a bruise on her left cheekbone, and her lower lip was busted. Despite her injuries, much to Hana’s amazement, the girl stood steadily on her feet and walked over towards Yozora when their sensei ordered them to form the Seal of Reconciliation.

Kimi held out her shaking arm with two fingers extended, making sure to look the other girl in the eyes. Yozora stared at the girl before following her example. Looking her in the eyes, Yozora smirked as she crushed Kimi’s fingers with her own, making the girl wince before throwing the girl’s hand down and walking back towards the Academy building just as the bell rang.

“Tomorrow we’ll be staring the History of Konoha, make sure to bring your books,” Mori called out over the excited squeals of the excited children.

“Hey are you okay,” Hana asked as she walked over to Kimi.

The dark haired girl stayed quiet as she stared down at her feet. When she looked up, Hana saw the tears running down her cheeks. “It only gets harder from her, huh?”

“Kimi?”

“But I’m not giving up. I’ll train harder and longer than ever before. Even if it kills me, I’ll prove to not just the clan, but everyone that I’m a real Uchiha. I’ll make them see me for me. I can’t just quit now. No matter how hard it gets, I’ll get back up and keep fighting.” She looked over to Hana with a newfound determination burning in her eyes. The words Kakashi had spoken to her the day before finally settled in and their meaning became clear as crystal. “Not now, not ever! I’ll never give up! I will wear that fan on my back one day.”


	17. Part 1: The First Instance

“Listen up,” Mori-sensei called out to the class. When he was sure he had everyone’s attention, he resumed speaking. “Tomorrow is Friday, and your final day of class before we take our leave for winter break.” At this the children broke out into hushed whispers of excitement for the upcoming holidays. “Quiet,” his voice range out when the students’ chatter began to rise in volume. “Tomorrow we won’t be having class, but I will be meeting with your parents or whoever is responsible for you to discuss your progress.” He gave one last look around the room before calling out, ”Dismissed!”

“So Kimi what are you guys going to be doing in the Uchiha Manor,” Hana whispered excitedly to the girl as she packed up her belongings – more like she shoved all her books, papers, and pencils haphazardly into her yellow book bag.

“Hmm, I remember Kaa-san talking about getting a Christmas tree and decorating the house all day tomorrow. After that I’m gon’na try to figure out what I’m getting everyone for Christmas. You still want that leash for your brother,” Kimi joked.

“Hellz yea,” the brunette cheered. Kiba was only two years old, but they didn’t call them the Terrible Two’s for nothing. The little boy had a habit of going into her room and making a mess of anything he could get his little hands on. “On second thought can you get me a cage?”

“You’re so mean to him, Kiba’s a sweetheart,” Kimi giggled.

“Only ‘cause he thinks you’re pretty,” Hana said with a frown. “Wan’na trade? I’ll give you Kiba you give me Sasuke.”

“Nah, I like tormenting that little monster,” the Uchiha stated and she neatly slid her history book in her backpack. “Besides I’m pretty sure you would rather trade Kiba for Itachi.”

Hana sputter as her face took on a pinkish hue. “W-W-What? You’re talking crazy nonsense again!”

“I’ll buy extra mistletoe when we stop at the Yamanaka flower shop tomorrow,” said the smaller girl with a wide mischievous grin on her face.

“You would do that for me,” the Inuzuka asked with wide eyes.

“Yup,” Kimi replied popping the p as she slipped her arms through the straps of her backpack. “So what are you guys going to be doing at the Inuzuka Manor?”

“We will be doing exactly what you guys are doing at the Inuzuka Barn,” Hana answered with a snicker. She had a habit of referring to her house as a barn, with good reason. There was really no other way to describe the craziness of the Inuzuka clan than to say they were all raised in a barn. A sudden thought popped into the older girl’s head. “Does your mom make you dress up in ridiculous costumes?”

“Yea-“Kimi was cut off from replying.

“Kimi,” Mori called out to the black haired girl catching her attention along with the others’ still in the classroom. “Can you stay behind I need to speak with you?”

“Yes Sensei,” the girl replied.

“What does he talk to you about when he asks you to stay behind,” Hana asked, not bothering to conceal the curiosity in her voice.

“Since I’m an orphan he speaks to me directly about my grades. It’s also why I don’t have to come to class tomorrow.” Even though it was perfectly hidden, Hana could feel the sadness behind the girl’s words.  

“Lucky you,” Hana said with a pout. The fact that Kimi had to hide who she really was, was a touchy subject, but the girl held no doubts that it would one day be a thing of the past. So for now she will help the girl in any way she could to keep her from going insane by living a double life. “So I’m still helping you decorate your apartment, right?”

“Of course,” Kimi assured the girl. She had almost forgotten about her apartment.

It was a surprise when one of the other girls had asked to have a sleepover at her place. She hadn’t known what to say, and before she could even say anything Yozora announced to the other six girls in the classroom that there was going to be a sleepover at Kimi’s that weekend.

Later that day, after she had gotten home, she brought up the problem with her parents. When she told them, it had stunned Fugaku and Mikoto into silence. Though they had prepared, they weren’t expecting Yozora to be the instigator. After regaining their composure, they informed their daughter that they had rented an apartment in preparation for such an event. After that, all that was left for the five year old to decorate the place any way she liked.

The next day he parents handed her some money, and she and the Inuzuka girl along with the strange white haired ANBU went out shopping. Kakashi was only there because it was customary for an ANBU to accompany young orphans when they journeyed into the shopping district – either to look out for their safety or make sure they were not overcharged. Although with the little Uchiha, Kakashi had his work cut out for him. She was a klutz and always managed to trip over the tinniest of pebbles, or she wanted to give money to those who were less fortunate. She was too accident prone and kindhearted. In the end, Kakashi had decided that it would make things easier on him to just walk beside the black haired child and her brown haired friend.

By the time the two girl had grown tired, Kakashi resembled a mountain of shopping bags and boxes with legs. The sixteen year old struggled to keep from crumpling under the pressure of their young girl’s purchases. He was more than relieved when Kimi stated that she was ready to head back. He was only disappointed to find out that the little Uchiha’s apartment was in a less desirable part of the village. But there was only so much one can afford on an orphan’s stipend. While he was lucky to have the money of the Hatake clan to support himself, Kimi was pretending to be just another orphan, nothing more nothing less.

When Kimi and Hana were finished decorating the apartment, it looked as if a rainbow had thrown up in the place. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple was everywhere. From the cups, plates, and pans to the pillows on the dark gray couch to the shower curtain and towels to the sheets on the bed and curtains on the windows. When he had questioned the girl she replied that she couldn’t figure out which color she liked better.

The five year old Uchiha had laughed when she saw Kakashi pouring himself a cup of iced tea in the green cup.

Kimi shook her head from her thoughts. The classroom was finally empty, and the only ones remaining were her and her sensei. Slowly she walked up to the front desk where the silent man waited.

“You wanted to speak to me,” she inquired.

“Yes,” Mori confirmed as he looked up from the paper he was grading. “I’m going to get straight to the point. Your grades are the highest in the class, and you’re an outstanding student. If you keep up the good work maybe improve your marksmanship a little, you could graduate at the end of the year.”

Kimi’s eyes were sparkling. “Really?” She shook her head. “But Yozora’s better than me.”

“That may be true, but Yozora is lacking in a few major key points. Points which you have. I won’t pressure you. It is ultimately your decision whether you take the graduation exam or not. Don’t take the exam if you’re not ready, you only get three tries before you’re dropped from the program. Understood?”

“Yes, sensei.”

“I’ll add your name to the list of those taking the exam,” Mori said with a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“T-Thank you, sensei,” Kimi accidentally shouted with a large grin on her face. When Mori waved his hand at her, signaling her dismissal, the Uchiha didn’t wait and bolted straight towards her house, completely unaware of the girl she knocked over as she sprinted out the classroom door.

Bursting through the front door of the Uchiha Manor, Kimi started shouting for her parents, who were both in the kitchen with her brothers.

“Kimi-chan calm down,” Mikoto scolded her daughter as she danced all around the kitchen.

“I’m going to graduate at the end of the year!”

That outburst certainly but a stop to the activities that were previously taking place in the kitchen. Sasuke paused in drinking his tea causing it to dribble out of his mouth, Itachi choked in his dango, Shisui fell backwards on the floor, Mikoto dropped the bowl she was washing, and Fugaku simply turned his head to look at his daughter with pride in his dark eyes.

“My daughter’s a genius,” Mikoto cheered as she embraced her daughter in a bone crushing hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around.

One back on the ground Kimi was still bouncing on the balls of her feet. “It’s not a guarantee, but Mori-sensei said he’s going to be putting me down on the list of possible graduates. But if I pass the graduate exam I get to be a Genin!”

“Let’s eat cake,” Shisui shouted not wanting to let a moment where he could eat cake pass.

XxX

“We should get that one,” Kimi stated.

“No that one,” Sasuke shouted.

“I like this one,” Itachi said.

Fugaku stared at his children as they argued amongst themselves over which tree they should get. All he really saw was a big tree, a bigger tree, and a tree that looked like it would blow over with even the slightest breeze.

“We’re getting this one,” Mikoto stated pointing to the biggest tree any of them had ever seen.

Kimi and Sasuke cheered and Itachi looked down miserably at the little tree. While their parents talked, Kimi and Sasuke had quickly grown fond of the little tree their older brother had chosen.

Fugaku made quick work of cutting down the little tree and tying it up for his oldest son before moving on to cut down the tree his wife wanted. Halfway through cutting down the tree his wife told him she had changed her mind and they were going to use Itachi’s tree. In a fit of rage the Uchiha clan head, threw the ax he was using at the tree causing it to almost fall on top of him before heading back home where it was warm and cozy while mumbling about stupid trees and indecisive people. He then turned on his heel and walked over to where the little tree laid, picked it up, and then walking back in the direction the Uchiha District was located, but not without stumbling on a few tree roots on the way.

“And that Kimi is where you get your clumsiness,” Mikoto stated as she watched her husband’s retreating back.

“Can we go bake cookies now,” Sasuke asked with wide eyes and his lower lip jutted out.

“After we decorate the tree,” Mikoto stated as she led her children towards their home.

Upon entering the Uchiha Manor, they heard shouts of pain coming from the direction of the family room. In the living room was Fugaku struggling to get out from under the Christmas tree with Shisui making the situation worse.

“How about those cookies?” Mikoto called out to her three children who were giving their father blank stares.

“Nah, I think I’ll kick back and enjoy the show,” Kimi stated as she was about to jump on the couch, but before she made Itachi had caught her by the arm and dragged her to the kitchen.

“If I have to miss it, so do you,” Itachi whispered in the girl’s ear.

“You, my dear older brother, suck!”

In the kitchen, Mikoto fluttered from the cabinets to the fridge to the table and back, picking out the things needed to make cookies. Ten minutes later and the kitchen was bustling with activity as the four Uchiha worked.

The cookie dough was rolled, the cookies were cut out with Christmas themed cookie cutters, baked, and then placed on a wire rack to cool. All that was left was to decorate the cookies with frosting.

“Look at my tree,” Sasuke shouted, excitement bubbling within.

“It’s hideous,” Kimi stated bluntly as she eyed the purple Christmas tree. “Christmas trees aren’t purple.”

“Kimi,” Mikoto chided her daughter. “I think it’s beautiful, Sasuke-kun. Purple is my favorite color too.”

Sasuke gave her a look of horror. He looked down at the cookie. “It’s ugly. My new favorite color is blue.” Because it was never a good thing to have the same favorite color as your mother. “For once Nee-san is right.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean,” Kimi shouted across the table. Sasuke let out a squeak and hid behind his brother when she gave him the stink eye.

“Imouto,” Itachi sighed. He placed the cookie he was frosting back on the rack before grabbing another one and handing it to his little brother.

“Love you too Nii-san,” Kimi sang.

“Nii-san loves me more,” Sasuke argued.

“What was that,” Kimi snapped making the two year old shut his mouth.

“Demon,” the boy muttered beneath his breath. She was going to make a retort but was silenced by their father when she tapped her on the back of her head as he walked into the kitchen.

“Can you go just one day without being a little devil,” Fugaku questioned.

“I don’t know… can you go one day without being a total spaz,” Kimi rebutted.

The two narrowed their eyes at the other and a glaring contest began.

Itachi stopped what he was doing, and pulled out a stopwatch, a notebook, and a pen. He tapped the button on top to start the time, then with his left hand he opened the notebook and wrote down the date along with the time.

Kimi blinked ending the glaring contest between her and her father. She has lost. She turned away from the man, crossed her arms and pouted.

Looking over Itachi’s shoulder, Mikoto shook her head. Kimi and Fugaku had started having glaring contests when Kimi was three. Then one day at random, the two started arguing over who had one the most times, and it surprised them all to find out Itachi had been keeping score and that they were tied.

“Alright kids let start making the gingerbread house,” Mikoto exclaimed as she pulled out a gingerbread house making kit.

Later…

“Why am I bald?” Itachi questioned as he held up his gingerbread counterpart. 

“Because I needed the frosting for my hair,” Fugaku stated as he held up his gingerbread counterpart.

“Sasuke-kun why are you wearing a crown,” Kimi questioned as she stared at her brother’s gingerbread man.

“It’s not a cwown it’s my haiw,” the two year old muttered.

“I have to say this gingerbread woman it beautiful,” Mikoto stated as she held up her gingerbread counterpart.

“Ahhh! You ate my leg,” Sasuke cried as he stared at his sister in horror.

“And it tasted delicious,” the five year old informed.

“Itachi you ate my head,” Fugaku shouted as he watched his oldest son snatch his gingerbread counterpart off the plate, dip it in his hot chocolate, and then bit off the head.

“You needed a haircut,” Itachi simply said.

Mikoto face-palmed.

…

December 24 – 11:48 P.M.

Thumping sounded on the roof. Bells jingled in the air.

Santa Claus made his way towards the little Christmas tree in the corner of the family room. His cheeks were red and his eyes crinkled with laughter as he caught sight of the two dark haired children fast asleep on the beige couch.

The little girl no more than five years old and the little boy barely two years old snuggled close together, trying to keep warm. The girl’s arms wrapped protectively around her little brother’s waist as the boy rested his chin on her shoulder.

Old St. Nicholas set his red bag filled with gifts down. He walked over to the closet on in the hall and grabbed a warm blanket. As he was about to cover the sleeping children, something whizzed by his ear.

Startled the man looked up. A boy who was unmistakably the children’s older brother stood in the doorway. The boy was glaring at him.

“You can’t take them away, fat man,” the seven year old boy shouted as he pulled another kunai from the sleeve of his pajamas.

“Itachi wait,” the man in the red suit called.

“Aunt Kushina was right,” Itachi continued speaking as if he hadn’t heard the man. “I didn’t mean to be mean to Tou-san. I know it wasn’t right to throw rocks at Inabi and make Yozora fall on the dog poop, but they were being-“

“Itachi calm down. It’s just me,” the ‘fat man’ said as he tugged at his white beard to reveal that it was fake. When the beard was gone, Itachi saw who it really was.

“S-Sorry Tou-san. I just thought-“

“I know, son, I know.”  _Damn Kushina! She’s been gone for two years and she still manages to make my life harder._ “You tree can sleep in our room tonight.” He handed a still half asleep Sasuke over to Itachi and watched as the boys walked to the master bedroom.

“Bye Santa,” the two year old called out followed by a long sleepy yawn.

“Hey fat man, can you take these presents to Naruto-kun,” Kimi asked as she held a box filled with beautifully wrapped presents.

“Don’t call me fat man!”

There never was a dull moment in the Uchiha Manor. Luckily Mikoto caught the whole thing on camera.

XxX

“Kakashi-kun,” Kimi called out for the white haired ninja. She had remembered overhearing some ninja saying the white haired sixteen year old was on clean up duty after the second exam of the Chunin exams. If she remembered correctly then the second portion of the exams always took place at training ground 44 – otherwise known as the Forest of Death.

It was December 26, the day after Christmas. She wasn’t able to visit Kakashi the day before in order to give him his Christmas present, but when she heard where he was going to be she couldn’t pass up the chance. So she ran back home to pick up her gift and put on a thicker gray winter coat over her white wooly sweater and switched her ninja sandals for black winter boots, before running back out the door.

Upon reaching the training ground she peered through the tall gates topped with barbed wire, surveying the forest within. The trees were massive in both height and width, and not to mention dense. She could barely see a few feet into the actual forest before the sunlight was blocked off and everything became dark. Vines hung from the branches and bugs of all sizes crawled around. The ground below, just like the rest of the village, was covered in a layer of pure white snow.

Small footprints were left in the snow as she walked around the perimeter of the training grounds. The wind began to pick up, making her long black hair whip painfully against her face as she hugged her coat tighter to her body trying to preserve the heat. She mentally scolded herself for forgetting to put on a scarf before leaving home. She lifted her shaking hands to button her coat to the highest button before pulling out a pair of red wool gloves out of her pocket and slipping them onto her hand and then hastily shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat. Her left hand clutched around the small package, as she trudged onwards.

Before she could even comprehend what was happening, she felt a set of hands hook under her arms and lifted her up and tossed her to the side. She landed face down in the snow. Her head snapped up at the sound of a metal gate slamming shut.

“Don’t stay in one place too long or you’ll become an afternoon snack for the tigers,” a voice called out.

Turning her head, she caught sight of a face that made her gasp. She immediately recognized the person, but had no time to think as she heard the sound of one of the many tigers of the forest roar, making her jump to her feet and scan the area, completely forgetting about the person who was now long gone.

She was trapped inside the Forest of Death.

She was now beginning to realize that Kakashi was nowhere in sight, and it was all a setup to trap her. Once that thought settled into her mind, the girl felt just about ready to burst into tears.

The tiger gave a second roar, and the only thing left on her mind was to run. Run away and not get eaten.

Scrambling up to her feet, the small back haired girl ran into the forest. Chancing a look over her shoulder, she saw a large white tiger land on the spot where she once laid. Now she understood when they said don’t look back.

It felt as if she had ran the perimeter of the village before she slumped down against the base of a tree. Her legs felt like they were about to fall off, her heart was about to burst through her chest, and even though it was still snowing, she felt like she was in an oven. Sweat rolled down her face as she gasped for air. She leaned her head back against the bark of the tree.

Kimi was lost in the forest.

She looked up at the sky. Judging from the position of the sun, she could tell the sun would set in about two hours. She needed to get back to the gate. That was her only chance of getting out of the forest. The only problem was, after running away from lions and tigers and bears, and dodging giant leeches that were easily four times her size, she had ran deep into the forest. As she ran her mind was too focused on getting away from the wild animals, to pay attention to her surroundings. Thus meaning she could not retrace her steps and navigate her way back to where she started.

_“Sssssss…”_

She sprung to her feet despite her exhaustion. The next thing she knew she was running through the forest once again. Her breath came out in puffs of little white clouds. With every breath she took her lungs felt cold although her body was burning.

Breaking out of the trees, she ran over a frozen river. A third of the way across, she stilled when she heard the sound of the ice cracking. Looking down at her feet, the girl’s dark eyes widened as she saw cracks in the ice branching out from where her right foot was placed. She took another step and the ice cracked even more. The little girl lifted her foot, but it was no use. The ice continued to crack until it completely broke into random sized pieces.

Wobbling, Kimi fought to regain her balance on the floating patch of ice. When the ice shifted on the still water, it caused the girl to pitch forwards and land on her hands and knees. After a short struggle Kimi managed to get back to her feet.

Once standing, the girl’s mind jumped into overdrive and she began to formulate a plan. She looked at the floating ice blocks. From what she could tell they were beginning to melt. She had no other choice then to hop from the patches of ice to the other side of the river. Looking to her left, she saw that her times was limited as the ice continued to crack, and it would only be a matter of minutes until the water source was flowing freely once again.

_Can it even do this without falling in the river,_ she mentally questioned herself as she bit her lower lip in contemplation.

Splash

She turned her head to look behind her. She was hoping that one of the village’s ninja had decided to train in the forest and had come to her rescue.  Sadly those hopes were brutally crushed and then burned and crushed again. Behind her was not a Konoha Ninja, but the same white tiger that had tried to attack her in her first ten minutes behind the gates.

She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as the snow tiger jumped from the ice patch he had landed on to another. More specifically, the tiger was coming right at her.

Turning back around, the Uchiha took a deep breath and jumped to the nearest patch of ice. Not even bothering to get herself balanced, Kimi jumped to the next one. By her fourth jump the white tiger had caught up to her. As she landed on the next patch of ice, the beast slashed its paw at her, throwing her into the water.

When her body fell below the surface of the water, she was instantly soaked and it felt like her body was on fire. The water was so cold it burned against her skin. She had once accidentally burned herself while practicing fire jutsu with her father, but what she felt then was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. She gasped, bubbles filled with precious oxygen escaping her, as her back hit the bottom of the river. The rocky riverbed scraped at her back shredding her thick gray winter coat.

She tried to swim upwards, but she was stuck. The more she struggled to break free of whatever was restraining her, the more her lungs screamed for air, and the more she felt as if she was never going to get out of the freezing river.

Was this where she was going to die? Was she really going to die so young? She was only five! She couldn’t die just yet, her life hadn’t even started.

She shook her head. If she were back above the surface of the water, she would have taken a deep breath but… she wasn’t. She needed to calm down or she really was going to die.

She was being restrained, but how? She looked down. Her coat was caught on a rock. Having figured that out, the black haired girl quick work of undoing the large black buttons and shimming out of the sleeves. Now all that was left was to get back to the surface before her lungs gave out on her.

Righting herself, she kicked off the river floor with all the force she could muster and instantly broke through the surface. Once above the water she took in as much air as she could then settled in to taking in short deep breath of air until the burning in her lungs cooled.

Sinking into the water until the only things that were still above surface were her eyes and nose, she looked for the tiger. It didn’t take too long to find the beast. He was sitting patiently on a patch of ice scanning the water for her small form. She watched him as he groomed his pure white fur with black stripes. She watched as he laid down and tapped the water with his large paws. She watched as he drank from the river. She watched as he stood up and searched the surface of the water where she had fallen. She watched as he finally grew bored of waiting and stood up to leave. She watched as he turned his back and hopped back in the direction they came from and disappeared into the forest. She had watched it all from where she floated in the below freezing water behind an ice block.

Her teeth were chattering, her toes and fingers were numb, and her skin was turning blue. Despite all that the, five year old sawn to the side of the river where she flopped her exhausted body on the snowy riverside.

_“Alright Kimi what the first thing you do when you go camping,” the man with the sunshine blonde haired questioned with a warm smile on his sun tanned skin._

_“Um, find a place to set up camp,” the black haired girl answered shyly._

_“Exactly,” the man praised as he bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle._

_“Now what are things to look for when choosing a campsite,” the man whom she shared a great resemblance to questioned, his warm eyes staring down at her._

_“It… it has to be near drinking water, but not too close in case it floods.” She grew more confident in her answers as her father began to smile. “It needs… to be somewhere hidden… where the enemy won’t find us and… we won’t be open to attacks!”_

_“That’s my girl,” Fugaku stated as he lifted the three year old onto his lap and gave her a tight hug._

_“Another good thing to know is how to make a fire,” Minato said as stood up. “Both with and without jutsu!” The blonde man paled when he noticed the glare the black haired man was giving him. “Don’t give me that look. You remember what happened when we got stranded on that one mission and we were both out of chakra. It’ll come in handy one day.”_

_“Some geniuses we are,” Fugaku muttered. “We can’t even build a fire.” He stared at the blonde man with a blank look. “It’s your fault for dropping the matches in the lake.”_

_“Alright,” Minato shouted changing the subject. “First you dig a pit and line it with rocks, then you hunt for dry twigs and branches. Remember it won’t burn if it’s wet. Then we have four ways to start a fire. The first one is the old fashioned way by rubbing to sticks together, the second it with a mirror, the third with matches, and the fourth with a simple Katon jutsu.”_

_“Now what you do is,” Fugaku instructed as he and his blonde haired friend showed his daughter how build a fire._

The newly built fire crackled in the chilled winter air. The light illuminated the small cave Kimi had found. The sun was giving off its last rays of light, and soon the fire would be the only light source in all the forest aside from the moon.

Kimi sat beside the fire, and worked on removing her wet clothes. As she pulled off an article of clothing she hung it on the stick she had placed over the fire, right beside the fish she had caught. The five year old sat naked on the stone floor of the cave. She sat as close to the fire as she could, and turned the stick holding her wet clothes every now and then.

Pulling her knees to her chest, she examined the array of weapons she had found on her hunt for dry wood and food. There were ten kunai, twenty-seven shuriken, and four senbon. She had more but she had to use them to fend off the giant bugs of the forest.

She couldn’t wait until her clothes were dry.

While she waited on her clothes and food, she pulled out the herbs she found. She chopped up a few with a kunai and mashed them up in a piece of bark before adding a little bit of water to help it form a more spreadable paste. She took her time as she gently rubbed the green paste into the cuts and scrapes she acquired during her time in training ground 44. It was a little tricky trying to smooth it on to her back but she managed.

The fish finished cooking before the clothes finished drying.

As she ate the fish she thought back on her time in the forest. It was awful. It seemed as soon as she stepped foot into the place, or was thrown in, she was being chased by animals or being attacked by giant bugs. Then there was that white tiger, that always seemed to come at her when she least expected it. The forest itself was large and extremely hard to navigate for the five year old.

The only thing she refused to think about was the man who threw her into the forest. She couldn’t believe it… she didn’t  _want_  to believe it. If she accepted it, then it would crush her. It would crush her like a little bug.

Tears threatened to fall but she pushed them back. She couldn’t be weak. After all it was just another obstacle to overcome… but really… what was the point.

Her mood began to darken like the sky.

Twenty minutes later, the sun was gone and the moon was in its place. The wind blew fiercer than before. With particularly strong gust, the fire was put out. It was alright. It had served its purpose and had dried the girl’s clothes.

Kimi stood at the mouth of the cave dressed in her black pants with her winter boots and her thick white wool sweater and her red wool gloves. Her nose was red and her body was shivering, but she pushed it to the back of her head. 

There were exits on every side of the forest. All she had to do was get to one. To get to one, all she had to do was choose a random direction and keep going straight until she found the gate. It was easier said than done, but it was a plan.

She patted the pocket of her sweater to make sure her weapons hadn’t fallen out. Once she was sure they weren’t going to fall out she made her way back into the forest.

As she navigated her way through the tree, the only creatures she came across were bugs. She was easily able to dodge the bugs, even though the giant leeches made her squeamish.

She took notice on how the trees began to thin out. As she broke out of the tree line she suspicions were confirmed.

It was a large clearing. It probably looked beautiful during the spring or the summer, but during the winter it looked bleak and plain. Trees lined two-fourths of the clearing. Directly in front of her was yet another river, and to her right was rock wall topped with tree that touched the moon. Had she visited a place such as the once she found herself in with her family or friends, it might have been a winter wonderland. Unfortunately she had been thrown into the forest by a man she thought she could trust, and forced to fend for herself in a forest that she was quickly understanding why it had the name it did.

It reminded her of everything her life had become since the night the Kyuubi attacked. The icy glares she received from the clan, or the harsh biting words they whispered. How her mother’s bright smiles no longer seemed to hold as much warmth as they used to. How her father had become cold and withdrawn. How the man who reminded her of sunshine and his wife who was like a raging fire weren’t around to…

She blinked when she felt something wet hit the center of her forehead. Looking up, she realized that it had begun to sprinkle. The sky was crying along with her.

CRASH!

Her eyes widened at the thunderclap and the flash of lightning that followed after it. Her eyes didn’t widen at the booming noise or even the lightning. She wasn’t afraid of lightning, it reminded her of her white haired hero. What she was afraid of was the white snow tiger that stood on the other side of the clearing.

How? How had it found her? She didn’t know how, but she knew that she was angrier than she had ever been before. No longer could she deny the reason she was thrown into the forest. It was called the Forest of Death. The man had thrown her in there in hopes that she would be killed, and that made her angry.

She pulled out kunai from her sweater pocket and ran at the tiger. Her rage overtook her senses as she held the kunai in front of her body ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Once she was in range of the tiger, she swung her arm barely landing a hit on the tiger.

The tiger was shocked that the girl who had ran from him all day, was attacking him with suck wrath. He swiped his paw out and dropped the girl, but it didn’t deter her as she jumped back up to her feet and attacked much fiercer than before.

He heard her mumbling things underneath her breath with every swipe she made or shuriken she threw.

“Why me?”

Two shuriken were lunched at the tiger.

“What did I do to deserve this?”

A senbon whizzed through the air.

“I never did anything wrong!”

Three senbon flew through the air.

“Why do they all hate me?”

Three shuriken and one kunai were thrown.

“Why do they want me dead?”

Two shuriken.

“What did I do wrong?”

Four kunai.

“Why can’t they just accept me?”

Four shuriken.

“I’m not dangerous!”

Six shuriken.

“What was so bad?”

She threw the last of her shuriken and four of her kunai with great precision and deadly accuracy. Whipping out her last kunai she pounced on the tiger and attacked with a viciousness she never knew she possessed.

The white snow tiger disappeared in a puff of smoke. A summon. The tiger was a summoning. Someone sent one of their summons after her. That man sent his summoned animal after her to make sure the job got done. She could no longer deny it. She was forced to believe it. They wanted her dead.

Her clan wanted her dead.

CRASH!

The tears finally fell. There was nothing she could do to hold them back anymore.

CRASH!

She clutched the kunai tighter in her left hand. Her white sweater was stained red from the tiger’s blood just like the snow.

CRASH!

There was nothing she could do anymore. They wanted her dead. There was no way that she would ever be able to prove herself to them anymore. Her will was flickering out like the fire in the cave. It was starting to go out. The flames were becoming nothing more than embers.

CRASH!

“Kimi!”

She could have sworn she heard someone call her name. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Not anymore. Her heart ached.

Looking up at the sky, she saw how the lightning continued to flash as the thunder clapped. It seemed like with every flash the lightning got closer and closer. That’s when she saw it. The lightning bolt that was headed straight towards her but she couldn’t move. She was frozen.

The next thing she knew she heard the sound of chirping birds and felt a warm arm wrap around her waist. Lifting her head she was met with a familiar face mask. She felt the wind beating on her back as the white haired teen ran. She saw him lift his right arm and thrust his hand covered in the chakra created lightning towards the oncoming bolt of lightning.

It was amazing yet terrifying at the same time.

Hatake Kakashi had cut through the lightning bolt with his Chidori.

“Lightning Blade,” she heard the familiar voice of Kakashi’s self-proclaimed Eternal Rival mutter in awe.

“I’m sorry,” she managed to get out before she lost consciousness. 


	18. Part 1: Enough

Gai watched as his Eternal Rival froze and his body became rigid. The Green Beast stared in confusion as Kakashi stared wide-eyed at something below the cliff they were standing on. The black haired man peered downwards trying to see what had caught the white haired teen's attention. What he saw left him feeling confused.

Through the thickness of the falling rain, Maito Gai was able to make out the small form a small child standing in the center of a clearing that was at the base of the cliff. It was easy to make out her head of long dark hair amidst the freshly fallen snow. Along with her hair he was also able to make out patches of red amongst the white.

They hesitantly watched as the child moved her head, taking in her surroundings before settling on something in the distance. She slunk down to her knees, and looked at her twitching blood drenched hands. That was when the five year old girl let out an anguished cry that frightened that sent a shiver down Konoha’s Green Beast’s spine.

Thunder rumbled. The two rivals snapped their heads towards the sky in time to see a flash of lightning. The crash of thunder that followed snapped the white haired teen out of the trance he had fallen in.

On reflex, the white haired teen lifted the cloth obscuring his vision from his left eye, reveling the Sharingan. The red orb took in the scene playing out before him in slow motion. In the next second, Kakashi was running out into the clearing. With every crash of thunder, the lightning struck closer to the prone form of the child. Kakashi willed his legs to go faster, even going so far as to pump chakra into his legs. His mind was hazy. His heartbeat began to accelerate, and thudded against his ribcage painfully. Breathing became difficult. He was beginning to panic.

CRASH!

The strike of lightning that followed the deafening roar of thunder was headed straight towards the young Uchiha.

"Kimi," the Hatake shouted out to the child as he raced towards her. Kakashi saw the five year old lift her head up, staring at the sky, but making no move to dodge the oncoming lightning strike.  _Why isn’t she moving,_  he questioned.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins. He ran faster than ever before; even faster than he had during the attack of the Kyuubi. His right hand moved of its own accord. Fingers twitching, chakra crackled around his hand in the form of lightning. It didn’t even register in his mind that he hadn’t formed any hand seals or that he was going to literally fight lightning with lightning.

Charging forward he slunk his arm around the child pulling her to his chest, jumped up, and slashed at the streak lightning with his Chidori. The lightning bolt was cut in half, and then fizzled out as it was absorbed by the jutsu.

“Lightning Blade,” Gai stated in awe from somewhere in the nearby vicinity.

Landing back on his feet, Kakashi let the Chidori fade away. The Hatake wrapped his right arm around the Uchiha, cradling her to his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he heard her mutter before her body went limp.

Fear washed over him for the second time in as many minutes. He lifted a shaky right hand and placed it on her neck, while at the same time he pressed his ear to her chest. There was a pulse, calm and steady, although it was more reassuring to hear her heartbeat than it was to feel it. He let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. The Hatake readjusted the girl he had grown attached to. As he carried her, she unconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck. When he knew she was secured in his arms, he ran towards the nearest gate of the deadly forest, not even bothering to acknowledge his green rival.

Running at full speed, it didn’t take Kakashi long to navigate his way through the thick foliage of the Forest of Death and make his way towards one of the exits. Once out of the forest, the white haired teen didn’t stop running. He continued running toward the outskirts of the village towards the Uchiha district, going around back so as not to be seen entering the district with the child. He didn’t stop running until he was standing in the center of the family room of the Uchiha Manor, startling the family within in the process.

“Hatake, what is the meaning of this,” Fugaku shouted rising to his feet. He would have continued his shouting, if he had not stopped to take in the Hatake’s appearance and his daughter unconscious in the teen’s arms. “Explain now!”

XxX

New Year’s came and went. Itachi was still somewhat traumatized by the Santa Claus incident. Sasuke had gotten everything he had wanted, and like most children around the world, lost interest in about half of it and got most of his enjoyment from playing in the boxes. Fugaku earned a not so pleasing nickname of Fat Man, as his family now calls him. And Mikoto… well she’s just happy her family survived the holidays without driving each other up the wall like last year… and all the years before that, although, she would’ve preferred that to a sulking daughter and a worried family and friends.

Kimi was a shell of her former self. She ghosted around the house, the district, and the village. For about three days, she had taken refuge in her apartment located near the Ninja Academy. She refused to talk about what happened in the forest. Whenever they asked her she always said she had heard some Shinobi talking about training in the forest, and she had wanted to train there as well. They didn’t believe her, but at the same time it was something she would do for the sake of getting stronger.

There was nothing they could do about it. Mikoto and Fugaku couldn’t report it to the Hokage – if the existence of Kimi were to become public, Fugaku would be accused of going against the clan and they would also be put under more suspicion. Kakashi was the one to make the report to the Hokage, but the only thing the Sandaime did was tighten security around the forest.

Fugaku stared at his daughter as she poked at her breakfast. That was another thing, the girl rarely had an appetite. She barely even touched most foods, and would eat only small portions of her favorites. Another thing was, she didn’t talk as much as she used to or wasn’t as upbeat, she was more cautious and wary. If only Fugaku knew how she had ended up in the forest, then he would have been able to do something. He had a pretty good idea of what she went through in the forest, as he had once gone through the forest as a newly minted Genin for training.

His daughter wouldn’t talk, and when they pressed her to talk, she would withdraw and shut herself away. So Fugaku could only watch as his daughter started to lose herself. He stood up to hug her before she left for the Academy. He stayed standing in the doorway and watched as the usually upbeat sighed and trudged her way towards the Academy. When Itachi had wandered out onto that battlefield, it had taken the boy several months to get over the trauma, but it left a scar and altered his personality. The boy had been rough and careless, but after that incident her had become gentle and caring – the complete opposite of what he used to be. Though the realization his eldest son had made was for the better, on the other hand his daughter’s experience had a negative effect.

Maybe he was being overcritical. Kimi had done so many things where she was in danger, but she always bounced back from them rather quickly – the Kyuubi incident being the only exception. He could only hope as he set out to the police station.

Though over the next two years his hope slowly died, and he accepted the fact that his daughter would never smile again, no matter how painful it was to accept.

XxX

“Hey Kimi,” the brown haired Inuzuka greeted cheerfully as the black haired Uchiha plopped down in her seat. Her smile fell as the younger girl ignored her and rested her head on the desk.  _Okay something’s up,_  Hana thought as her dark eyes roamed over her usually cheerful friend. Just as she was about to question the younger girl, she was interrupted by the sound of hand being smacked down on the table. Lifting her eyes away from the gloomy Uchiha, she was met with the sight of a smirking Uchiha.

“Well it isn’t the little wannabe Uchiha and her  _dog,_ ” Yozora mocked earning a vicious glare from the Inuzuka.

“Go away Yozora,” Hana growled.

The Uchiha let out a breathy laugh in response, completely ignoring the brown haired girl. She then settled her gaze on the Clan Head’s supposed daughter. Yozora scowled. “So I see you’re still alive. After hearing that you snuck into the Forest of Death, I was kind of expecting you to be dead. Oh well, I guess. A girl can only dream.” She leaned over the desk, putting her mouth right beside the younger girl’s ear. In a low hard voice she whispered, “But if anyone does get to kill you, it’ll be me.” With that Uchiha Yozora turned around and took her seat, leaving Kimi to cry silently into her folded arms.

XxX

 

“Good morning students,” Mori greeted as he slid open the door.

“Good morning Mori-sensei,” the brown haired man’s class of future ninja of the Hidden Leaf greeted back.

Sarutobi Mori took the time to do a roll call. A week since the end of winter break had passed, and a few of his students had decided to drop out of the Academy and enroll in the civilian schools. It was something he had dealt with since the beginning of his career as an Academy instructor.

Children would come in with hopes of one day becoming heroes, only to be disappointed with the trials that they would have to face in order to achieve that particular dream. As usual, it was mainly civilian children to drop out while only the strong willed civilian children remained. It was a process. Weed out the weak-willed, and keep those who were willing to take their future careers as ninja seriously – to keep those who wanted to make a difference rather than become famous. It had nothing to do with physical strength, but rather how strong their Wills of Fire burned, as the Sandaime liked to say.

Twenty-one students of the thirty-six remained.

_If only the Uchiha brat would’ve dropped out,_  Mori thought to himself as he finished calling roll. When he had graduated from the Academy he had been placed on a team with an Uchiha, but his female teammate was kind and caring, while his only Uchiha student was rude and obnoxious, and not in the happy-go-lucky way.

He had one student that stood out above the rest. She was a little civilian girl, the youngest of the class. Her marks were topnotch. Her memory, both short and long term, was amazing. Her chakra control was better than a Chunin’s – he had even seen her reading advanced medical textbooks during lunch break a few times. The only problem he took notice to was her inability to sense chakra signatures properly. During ambush training she would always be one of the firsts to go down, but sometimes she would make it to the end of the exercise due to her reflexes.

The girl even reminded him somewhat of his former Genin teammate, but there was something else too. It was like his teammate and her best friends had somehow cloned themselves and the girl was the product.

He shivered at that train out thought, earning weird looks from his students in the front row. Then the thought that her could possibly be teaching the next generation’s Hatake Kakashi, excited him as he smirked in triumph, causing his students to give him confused looks.

Shifting his attention to the young girl in question, his smirk transformed into a straight line. It was odd. His usually cheerful student was sitting with her head on her desk, as she had been for the past week. At first he had thought she was upset that the holidays were over, but that didn’t seem to be the case anymore. Maybe the girl was bored and wanted to do something interesting.  _Well I could bump up one of the lessons I had planned._

“Alright class, we’ve already went over the first and second wars, and now we will be going over the Third Shinobi World War. Can anyone point of some main events of the war?” Only one student raised her hand. “Yes, Yozora?”

“Hatake Kakashi murdered Uchiha Obito for his Sharingan,” the dark haired girl stated with a scowl.

“No he didn’t, he gave him his Sharingan,” Kimi shouted in retaliation, glaring at the back of Yozora’s head.

“Oh, really? Do you really expect us to believe that Obito willingly gave him his eye? Hatake’s a bastard and only cares about himself.”

“Kakashi-kun would never do that! Obito was his best friend.”

“Aww, so the little baby has a crush on the Sharingan Thief. How cute,” the Uchiha girl mocked. “But get real. An Uchiha would never give up their Sharingan and that’s a fact.”

“Alright girls that’s enough,” Mori cut in. “Okay class, it is true that Uchiha Obito died in the war. His body was never recovered-“

“Could it be possible that he’s still alive,” a student asked randomly.

“No, his body was buried in a cave in,” Yozora supplied.

“What if the enemy found him and are holding him captive?”

“What if they brainwashed him, so that he could work for them?”

“What if he has amnesia and doesn’t even remember who he is?”

“I’m sorry kids, but there’s no way that he survived the cave in. Once a person dies there’s no way for them to come back it’s just not possible, no matter how much we wish it were,” Mori stated his mind trailing back to the memories of the ones he lost. Shaking his head and giving the class a bitter smile, he continued on with his lesson. “Alright, in addition to Hatake-san becoming known as the Hero of the Sharingan, Namikaze Minato became known as Konoha’s Yellow Flash…”

_Is it really impossible to come back from the dead? I’m supposed to be dead. So how am I still alive? If I can be brought back, who’s to say that Obito can’t be brought back? If only Obito had survived then maybe Kakashi wouldn’t be so sad all the time, and maybe Rin would still be here. And maybe Aunt Ku- Who am I kidding? But maybe if I could find the person who gave me a second chance then maybe… What? Bring them back? If whoever it was could bring them back, wouldn’t they be here already?_

“I’ll see you guys after lunch,” Mori called, looking away from the clock mounted above the door. “Before I forget, we will be starting on swimming lessons, so be sure to bring proper swimming attire!”

XxX

“Hey Kimi, wait up,” Hana shouted. “There was a sign on the door that said to meet up at the river.”

Not pausing in her stride, the Uchiha turned on her heel, and headed in the direction of the river. The Inuzuka trailed behind her, watching her with saddened eyes, missing the way she used to be.

The black haired girl, chanced a glance over her shoulder at her best friend. No matter what happened to her, she couldn’t let Hana get hurt because of her. She couldn’t let anyone get hurt because of her. The entire clan was after her, and they wouldn’t care who got in the way of getting what they wanted, they’d probably take them down with her and claim it as an unfortunate accident. No, it was better if Hana had nothing to do with her.

Kimi just wanted to make herself seem as unthreatening as possible, and that meant eliminating her connections to the higher ups of the village.

She shook her head. What was she thinking? Her thought process had been weird as of late, and often took her down strange paths. She was confused. It was like a part of her was missing. Like a light had gone out.

She lifted her hands, and placed her palms over her eyes. She wanted to fight, but she was scared. No matter how she looked at it, she wouldn’t win. She wanted to be part of the clan. She needed to get stronger to be recognized as part of the clan, but… the stronger she got the bigger a threat she became to the clan. Maybe she should quit being a ninja, but if she did that she would disappoint her parents… and most of all herself.

Maybe she could continue fighting just a little longer. But… she wondered… why was it that they fought so hard? Why were people like the Hokage as strong as they are? Why was someone like Madara as strong as he was? He’s a bad guy, right? How are people able to become so strong? Are they born that way? How was Kakashi able to do it? How was he able to carry on after everything that’s happened him? Where does that strength come from?

What makes the heroes and the villains so strong?

Isn’t it enough that she’s an Uchiha? Didn’t everyone claim that the Uchiha are born strong? If that was the case, then why wasn’t she strong? Was it because of the Sharingan? But the Senju never had the Sharingan, and they were just as strong.

“Okay, Now that everyone’s here, we’ll begin,” the voice of Sarutobi Mori announced, breaking Kimi out of her swirled thought process. “I want everyone in their swimming attire, and sitting along the river.” The brown haired man hopped over the river to the other side, and watched his students do as he instructed. When they were assembled, he began his lecture. “As Shinobi we take missions, and sometimes those mission may lead us to unexpected places. Say a client falls overboard, or you fall into a lake, or perhaps in order to reach the enemy you have to go through…” His students were too busy splashing water at each other to really pay attention to what he was saying.

“How many of you know how to swim,” Mori asked, switching tactics. Instantly half of the class raised their hands. “Okay I want those of you who don’t know how to swim to pair up with someone who does.”

After the children were paired up he made them step into the water, and the lesson went on from there. By the end of class, practically everyone was swimming.

“Time to go home kiddies!” His only reply was a chorus of groans. The sound of splashing water was heard as the Academy students trudged out of the water.

“Sensei,” called one of his brown haired students. If he remembered correctly she was Tsume’s daughter. The Kami she was nothing like her mother was when they were in the Academy.

“Hana,” he said.

“Kimi’s missing,” the girl informed, worry heavily coating her voice.

“Who was her partner,” Mori questioned the class.

“I was,” Yozora stated.

“Where did you last see her?”

“She was laying on the grass trying to dry off.”

“Alright, everyone head home I’ll find her and take her home.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he checked his surroundings. Kimi always had a habit wandering off. “Kimi!”

Glancing towards the river, to where the barrier was placed to keep the students from floating downstream, he saw a blob of black ink… no it was hair. Rushing over to the river he jumped in in and made a grab for the body of the five year old. He tried lifting her out of the water, but was met with resistance. Diving in her found that her swimsuit had gotten caught on a jagged rock. Quickly he loosened her swimsuit from the rock and brought the girl up to the surface, where he laid her on the grass.

Immediately he began to preform CPR. He flipped her small body on her back. Placing his hands on her chest he began to pump. Tilting her head back he breathed in air. Soon enough, the girl began to cough up river water, and Mori sent up a prayer to whatever god or deity that would hear him. He swooped her small body into his arms and started a journey to the hospital.

Kimi’s lungs burned. Although it didn’t hurt as much as the fact that she was completely useless and once again found herself being carried by someone stronger than her… by someone better.

_“You know what why don’t you just die already? No one wants you. You should drop out of the Academy. You wouldn’t even be able to save anyone,” Yozora mocked at the end of their first swimming lesson._

_Before the little Uchiha realized it, Yozora had dunked her head under the water and pushed her against jagged rocks. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the smirking face of the older Uchiha._

“Can you take me home,” she asked in a small voice. “I can heal myself.”

Mori looked down at her in concern. “Alright,” he agreed. “You know, I’m going to put your name down for early graduation. If you fail this year’s, you’re able to try next year, but if you fail next year’s you only have one more year to try. But I’m certain you’ll pass on your first try.”

“MmmHmm.”

XxX

The attempts at the Uchiha Head’s daughter’s life, became more frequent. It soon reached the point when the girl had had enough. The fire that had once been her will, turned to embers after the incident in the Forest of Death, and after all the attempts it was like someone had thrown a bucket on those embers not even giving them a chance to be reignited.


	19. Part 1: Into the Unknown

Three years later...

Sunlight streamed through the sheer curtains of the bedroom as the sun rose. The sleeping figure tangled in light gray bed sheets rolled over onto her side, pulling the mint green comforter of her head.

“Kimi it’s time to wake up,” Mikoto called poking her head into the room. When she received no response, she let out a sigh. “Hey Sasuke-chan why don’t you go wake up your sister.”

“Kay,” the boy said as he ran into his older sister’s room. “Nee-san it’s time to wake up.” The youngest of the three siblings shouted as he jumped on the twin-sized bed. He felt something grab his ankle. Before he knew it he was falling forward and then consumed in darkness as two arms wrapped around his body from behind. His sister had pulled him under the covers with her.

“It’s too early for you to be this loud,” Kimi grouched as she snuggled with her little brother.

“It’s never too early,” Sasuke pouted as he snuggled into the girl’s warm embrace. She always did that in the mornings when she was feeling lazy, and he loved the few minutes they spent together before their mother came and took the covers away, forcing them to get up. Sometimes, although it was extremely rare, I-

“What are you two doing,” a voice questioned as the two felt the cool air hit them as their blanket was lifted.  For a moment they were worried that their mother had come, but then felt relief as someone wedged themselves between them and the two younger siblings snuggled into their older brother’s sides.

Sometimes, although it was extremely rare, Itachi would join them.

“Nii-san I thought you had to meet the Hokage for a mission,” Kimi questioned.

“I still have an hour before we’re to meet,” the oldest of the trio replied as he pulled his younger siblings closer to his body. “Besides I won’t be leaving for the mission until tonight.”

“What are you going to do,” Sasuke asked, not bothering to mask the curiosity in his voice.

“Can’t say exactly,” the oldest of the three stated. “But I can say it’s going to take me at least a week, two weeks the most.”

“What,” Kimi and Sasuke shouted into Itachi’s ear. “Why?”

“Well in order to get into the ANBU I need to prove that I can handle it. In order to do that I have to impress the Hokage, and to do that I’ll have to take more challenging mission. So I’ll be gone from the village longer.”

“Oh,” Sasuke sighed. “Can we train before you leave?”

“Of course,” Itachi replied with a smile at the boy. He turned his head to face his sister. “If anything when I get back it’ll be the same day you take the graduation exam. You’ve failed the first two times, this is your last chance. Imouto, I want you to take this seriously.”

“I have to get ready for school,” Kimi muttered as she clambered over her brothers and off the bed.

“Why’d you have to say something Nii-san? It doesn’t matter if she becomes a ninja, she’s still Nee-san.”

The future ANBU operative stared at his sister’s back as she walked out her room. There were too many secrets surrounding them. He couldn’t ask her for fear that she would want answers of her own. He couldn’t let her or Sasuke find out about the things the clan was preparing. So he would keep his mouth shut no matter how much it pained him to see his sister in pain.

XxX

The shone brightly in the darkened night sky. Everything was completely silent aside from the howling of the wind. Not a single person was awake.

Left? Clear.

Right? Clear.

Behind? Clear.

Above? Clear.

In his left hand, the five year old boy clutched a scroll. He wore dark clothing and a backpack, his dark hair spiked in an unusual way. He was going to-

“What are you doing, Sasuke?” questioned a voice, cutting through the silence.

Sasuke’s eyes widened as he tried to make a getaway. He ran down the hallway… or he tried to. He was being pulled by the handle of his pack into a room. Once the door shut he was dropped to the ground. His captor stood before him, glaring at him with her unforgiving onyx eyes. His mission had been compromised. He had been found and captured.

“You can’t make me talk,” the boy hissed. “I would never betray my village.”

His captor gave him a bland look before she smacked him upside the head.

“I’m a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village, no matter what tortures you use against me, I’ll never talk.”

“Sasuke you moron, what the hell are you doing sneaking around the house in the middle of the night,” Kimi questioned as she stared down at the boy. “And what’s with the lame ninja speeches?”

“Every awesome ninja says cool things in the face of the enemy,” was his retort as he completely ignored her previous question.

“Yeah well, you suck at those,” the girl stated bluntly. “Now answer my question. What were you doing?”

Sasuke looked down, suddenly finding the floor fascinating. “Nii-san forgot his mission scroll. I was going to take it to him.”

“By yourself?”

“Yes.”

“In enemy territory?”

“Yea- oh…”

“Well?”

“Nii-san needs his mission scroll. It has the directions to where he was supposed to meet someone, and what if he forgets?”

“It’s Itachi, Sasuke. I bet he probably memorized everything written on that.”

“But what if he didn’t?”

“Do you really want to take that scroll to him that badly?”

“Yes! Nii-san never needs my help, and this way I can help him.”

“Fine, just give me some time to pack a bag,” Kimi stated as she made her way over to her closet.

“You’re coming with me? What about the graduation exam?”

“It’s alright Sasuke. While I pack go change your shirt,” Kimi commanded as she pulled on a plain gray long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black shorts.

“What’s wrong with my shirt,” Sasuke asked completely confused.

“It has the fan on the back. If we’re going to leave the village we can’t have people recognizing the clan symbol. Remember what happened to that Hyuuga girl? No one tries to go after the Uchiha, because their afraid, but if a little Uchiha comes wandering over, we’ll be under attack. So go change and repack your bag. Extra clothes without anything the enemy could use to trace us back to the clan or the village, bedroll and blanket, and double up on the weapons. After this we’ll raid the kitchen, and then head out.”

“What about a first aid kit?”

Kimi tossed a small first aid kit with the basics over at her brother. She watched him walk out of her room and head over to his room and shook her head. Pulling out her backpack, she began to fill it with the things she would need for their adventure. Itachi would be about a day or two ahead of them. She strapped a kunai pouch to her left thigh and a medic’s pouch to the belt she strapped on around her waist. _On second thought_ , she stuffed her weapon’s pouches and medic pouches in her pack. It would be better that they appear as harmless as possible.

Soon enough the two siblings – Sasuke dressed in a dark blue t-shirt and black shorts – were making their way out of the house and out of the Uchiha District. Living in the outskirts of the village had its perks. They were able to travel uninterrupted all the way towards the village gates.

As it would seem, luck was on their side. When they reached the gates, the guards were both fast asleep at their posts. The two Uchiha were able to walk right on through the gates and out of the village.

“We really need to talk to the Hokage about that,” Kimi said to her little brother.

“I’ll make sure I bring that up when I’m the Hokage’s right-hand-man,” Sasuke replied.

“Why not Hokage?”

“I’ve seen all the paperwork Tou-san has to fill out for the clan and police force.”

“It’s ‘cause you’re shy, right?”

“… Yes,” Sasuke muttered as he walked on ahead of his sister.

“You’re so cute,” Kimi squealed as she wrapped her arms around the boy. The eight year old continued to walk while hugging her younger brother.

“How long until we find Nii-san?”

“Hmm,” she hummed as she rested her chin on his head, the soft hairs tickling her nose. She briefly wondered if Itachi cut his hair short, would he have a cowlick like their little brother. “Itachi left at around eight, and we didn’t leave until around three. That would mean that Nii-san has a six hour head start. Not to mention that he has to stop for breaks and to rest, and he might have to stop to ask for directions. So if I have to guess, I would say that we should catch up to him in two to three days.”

“What?! Why so long,” exclaimed Sasuke with wide eyes.

“Well, Itachi’s able to travel faster than us,” Kimi answered.

“How?”

“Well, he channels chakra into his legs and he’s able to run faster like that. If you do it right, it’ll let you jump onto building or tree branches. Basically you’ll be able to jump high and run fast.”

“Can you do it?”

“Don’t know.” With that she let go of her brother and took a few steps away from him. Sasuke on the other hand, stopped walking and watched his sister closely. He watched her as she began running and leapt up onto a tree branch muck like a cat would. Then the eight year old proceeded to run along the tree tops jumping from branch to branch, slowly picking up speed before she leapt back to the ground, and landing in a crouch. “So yeah, I do know how to do it. I’ve practiced a few times after I saw Kakashi-kun doing it, but never really tried jumping on trees or buildings. Just boxes and big rocks.”

“Can you teach me?”

“Sure. You know how to mold chakra right?” Sasuke nodded his head, giving off the impression of a bobble head. “Okay. What you need to do is push the chakra into your legs.”

“How much chakra?”

“It doesn’t really matter, right now. Right now I just want you to be able to channel your chakra to your legs.” She grabbed the boys hand and made him preform a hand seal. “That is the tiger seal. It’s easier to manipulate chakra this way.”

Sasuke closed his eyes. He felt his chakra gather in his lower abdomen.

“Now push your chakra towards your legs.”

Concentrating on the flow of chakra, he hesitantly began to redirect the flow of his chakra into his legs.

“When you feel you’re ready, start running.”

Bobbing his head once, the youngest Uchiha, took off in a run. Kimi smiled as he brother, ran off ahead of her, and quickly followed him.

“Just add more chakra to run faster. You can keep going until you start to feels your chakra levels drop. After that, we can set up camp for the night.”

Four hours later, Sasuke collapsed in a heap on the forest floor. The five year old curled in on himself in exhaustion, as his chest rapidly rose and fell. His lungs burned as he gasped for air, and his throat burned as he thirsted for water.

"We made it to the border," Kimi stated as she took in their surroundings, while checking the map for their location. "Not bad, little bro. But you really overdid it. Although I'm supervised you lasted this long. Oh well, I guess we can look for a place to sleep for the night."

"Wa-Water," the five year old panted, "I need water!"

Kimi crouched down before the collapsed boy. From her pack, she took out a canteen. After unscrewing the lid, she gently lifted the boy's head and brought the opening up to his mouth, tilting the canteen in order for the boy to drink. After that, she placed the canteen back in its proper place, and lifted the boy to his feet.

Together the two siblings continued walking at a snail’s pace, until they came upon a fallen tree. The tree had fallen in a way that created an opening big enough for them to wedge themselves into for the night. 

After situating themselves, they huddled close together, sharing a single bedroll and a blanket. 

XxX

Kimi awoke to the light shining in her eyes and the sound of grunting. Sitting up, she stretched her arms high above her head. Dropping her arms, she grabbed the blanket and began folding it. Once finished with the blanket, the dark haired girl moved on to rolling up the bed roll and then strapping it to the bottom of her backpack.

After zipping up her pack, she climbed out from under the fallen tree. She was greeted with the sight of her little brother jumping around the tree tops.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing," Kimi questioned as she watched as her younger brother fell from a tree.

"Training," the boy replied. Rolled over onto his stomach, and rested his head over his folder arms.

The girl muttered a silent 'moron' as she pulled both packs from under the tree. She walked over to the boy and threw a container at him. He gave her a questioning look ad she answered with a simple, "breakfast," before opening her own container.

After their shared breakfast, the two made their way back across the border.

"Where are we?"

"According to the map, we should be reaching a small village in a few hours if we continue at this pace," stated the dark haired girl as she roll up the mission scroll and stuck it into her pocket. "From there, we'll stop for a break before heading down to the port. We should meet Itachi at the port. After that we can head home."

"Okay," boy replied as he jumped through the tree tops.

"I see you've gotten the hang of it," commented Kimi from where she ran behind the boy. 

It never ceased to amaze her just how quickly Sasuke was able to pick up on things. She had no doubt in her mind that her little brother would be a genius. No... She had no doubt in her mind that her little brother is a genius. Both her brothers were geniuses, while she was the dead last.

After having her clan out for her head, she... She doesn't even know. After all the incidences, she could no longer bring herself to fight back. The only thing she was capable of was running away and protecting herself. She just didn't have the energy, the strength to fight back. She knew it was hopeless to fight back. 

That attitude even transferred over to her studies, and her marks at the Academy suffered greatly. She went from being one of the top ranked and being considered a genius to being the lowest ranked student and considered the dead last.

No matter how hard she had tried to keep her head up, they always grabbed her by the back if the head and force her to bow.

Shaking her head, she looked up at the sun. The big ball of fire in the sky. If only something could reignite the fire in her heart. 

The scenery rushed past the siblings in a blur of greens and browns. The sun streamed through the small gaps between the treetops. All around the creatures of the forest scurried about, taking care of their business.

At around noon, Kimi and Sasuke finally reached the small unnamed village.  The village was a ghost town and completely deserted.

"I don't wan'na go in there," Sasuke muttered as he took in the abandoned village.

"Neither do I," Kimi responded. "Do you want to keep going until we find another village?"

"Can't we just eat the food you packed and then go to the port?"

"I guess."

"Nee-san?"

"Hmmm?"

"I kind of want to go in there."

"Maybe it's haunted."

"It'll be just like that movie."

"We should go in there."

Thirty minutes later, after exploring the haunted village the two encountered a ghost. They attempted to perform the chants they had seen in a movie, but they didn't work, considering they got most of the words wrong. In the end, the two siblings ran out of the village screaming bloody murder.

XxX

As the sun was sinking in the horizon, the two dark haired children finally reached the port village.

"Why couldn't we use the port in Fire Country?"

"I don't know, Sasuke-kun. It would have been faster, but I think it to throw off anyone who'd be tailing us," Kimi stated as she read the directions written in the mission scroll. "Oh well, we still got here in record time. I still can't believe how fast you can run."

"Can we eat somewhere before we look for Nii-san?" Sasuke looked at her with wide pleading eyes.

Rolling her eyes at her brother's antics, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him along in search for a restaurant.  

After a few minutes of searching, the two found a decent restaurant that made dishes with freshly caught seafood. 

"After this we look for Itachi, got it."

"Whatever," Sasuke muttered as he stuffed a fried shrimp in his mouth. He choked when he received a smack to the head. 

"Don't whatever me, you shit!" Shouted Kimi with a look of rage adorning her usually happy face.

Sasuke make a mental note not to anger girls and just leave them be. They could be vicious when insulted.

"Are you two lost," a gruff male voice asked.

Looking up, the two siblings were greeted by the sight of a large man who appeared to be in his mid to late twenties. He was large as in his muscle mass and not fat. He was bald and had scars running down the left side of his face. The man was taller their father by about a foot.

"No," Kimi stated as she continued to eat her meal, pausing only to instruct Sasuke to eat his vegetables.

"You cheeky little brat," the stranger grumbled.

"Excuse me, but are you disturbing these children," a man asked. Upon closer inspection, the man wore a headband stating that he was a ninja of the Leaf.

The stranger scoffed at the Leaf Ninja's interruption and turned to leave the premises. 

"Are you kids alright," the ninja asked when he was sure the man was gone. He took notice of the younger of the two siblings and his eyes widened marginally. "I-Itachi!" He turned to look over at his comrades only to the see that the one he was looking or had left. "Uchiha get over here."

"He went outside, down by the docks," a random ninja called out.

"Okay kids-" he stopped mid-sentence when he noticed that the children were gone.

XxX

"Nii-san," the two called out when they caught sight if their brother walking along the dock.

The eldest Uchiha sibling looked up when he heard the voices of his brother and sister. At first he had thought he was hearing things, but when he saw then he knew that wasn't the case. 

He was about to run over to them when a large man knocked him into the harbor. He had not time to react and stick to the surface of the water. Water filled the Uchiha Heir's lungs as he fell beneath the surface of the water. He quickly righted himself and swam to the surface.

Jumping onto the dock, he caught sight of the man knocking out his younger siblings and slinging them over his shoulders before he jumped into a nearby motorboat. Itachi tried giving chase, but he had been depleted of chakra from an earlier battle. Floating in the water Itachi could only watch helplessly as the man made off with his siblings.

He felt hands grab his upper arms and lift him out of the water and into a boat.

"Boy what are you doing this far out in the harbor," a graying old man questioned as he helped the boy into a sitting position. 

"Can you take me to Kiri," the Uchiha gasped out.

"Son, I can't do that. No one has gone that way, not since the civil war broke out a few weeks back," the fisherman informed. "If you don't mind me asking, what business do you have in Water County?"

"My siblings were kidnapped! If I can't save them my career as a ninja would be meaningless. If I can't save even my own siblings, then how do I expect to save anyone else’s? Please, sir. Just take me as close as you can. I'll swim the rest of the way if I have to. Just please take me," the ten year old begged bordering on hysterics.

"All right, boy. I'll take you as close as a mile away from shore."

"Thank you! Thank you!"

With that the fisherman sped off in the direction of Water Country. As promised the fisherman stopped the boat a mile away from shore.

"Boy, what's your name?"

"Itachi. Uchiha Itachi." The ten year old future ANBU reached into his pocket and pulled out a small picture of him and his family. "Those are my siblings."

"You brothers going to have girls chasing after him left and right. You better watch out for your sister though. She's adorable, she'll be a little heartbreaker."

"I want you to keep that," the boy stated before he turned around to jump out of the small dinky fishing boat.

"I'll come back here to this spot every afternoon for three weeks. Itachi, I want you to save them. I was never able to protect my own siblings, but I want you to be different."

"Thank you, sir." With that the long haired male jumped into the water and began his swim to the shore.

About ten minutes later, he reached the sandy beach. Once there, he removed his clothing and ringed it, getting rid of as much water as possible.

Sensing someone nearby, he quickly took off in a sprint, removing his headband and tucking it away in his pocket. Running into the trees he removed his shirt and made sure to bury it deep into the ground.

Climbing to the top of a tree, he sat down in a meditative pose. Concentrating, he searched the surrounding area for any small flare of chakra from his siblings.

There! He found it. The flickering chakra of his little sister. They were moving at a steady pace, heading inland. He breathed a sigh of relief before jumping down from the top of the tree and taking off in a sprint.

He would reach them in a matter of moments. 

Sending more chakra to his legs, the long haired boy picked up his pace. With all the chakra he was circulating through his body, he would be found out the moment he was within range, unless one of them was a sensory type. Luckily, there were no sensors within the group, as they kept their steady pace.

Uchiha Itachi appeared on the scene in a flurry of crows. His piercing blood red eyes gleaming and three black commas spinning around his iris like some type of demon. His usually neat hair had fallen from its tie and was flapping in the wind. His clothing was disheveled and damp from his swim to shore and then his later mad dash through the terrain.

Five burly men stood frozen, as their eyes stared at the demon-like creature before them. They watched as his devil’s eyes searched them, bore falling onto the two unconscious children slung over the bald man’s shoulders. None of them had time to react as the boy flew at them at an unimaginable speed. Their deaths were quick and relatively pain free.

The scarred man stood in horror as the small boy cut through his men in less than ten seconds. He dropped the children to the ground and slowly back away. He hadn’t even taken his first step towards safety when he was cut down.

The dark haired boy dropped to his knees between his two younger siblings.

“It’s going to be okay guys,” he whispered as he brought them closer to his body in a bone-crushing embrace.

His eyes widened when he sensed multiple chakra signatures heading their way. He had briefly forgotten about the civil war. Lifting up his siblings up, he took off in a run. He silently cursed himself as the signatures behind them picked up their pace. He couldn’t turn around to head back to the beach. His only option was to keep heading inland.

Water Country was completely different than Fire Country. While Fire Country had an abundance of trees, Water Country had an abundance of rivers and lakes.

He thanked his lucky stars for his nature affinity for water. His only weakness was his knowledge of the land.

They were heading into the unknown.


	20. Part 1: Pass

His breaths came out in pants. If he had been alone, he would have lost his pursuers hours ago. Unfortunately for the long haired Uchiha, his sibling were still unconscious. Had they been conscious, his sister could have held his quick pace while he carried their younger brother on his back.

No he couldn’t think like that at the moment. The only thing that should be on his mind, were their pursuers and how the hell his younger siblings ended up in that port village. How had they gotten out of the village… no… how had they gotten out of the Uchiha District?

He groaned in dismay and a bit from the extra weight he was carrying. He knew how they had gotten out of the district; they just walked out. Kimi and Sasuke had a habit of sneaking out of the district and spending the night at Kimi’s apartment – something to do with the fact that their parents refused to let them stay up late to watch TV. How they had managed to get out of the village was beyond him. Although, if he had to guess, he would say it had something to do with how lax everything had become since the end of the third war.

But the lingering question was, why in the world were his siblings at that port village.

He slowed his pace until he was walking at a brisk pace. He had been running for the past five hours without a break while carrying the combined weight of his younger siblings.

Glancing up, he could barely make out buildings in the distance. It was a village. If he could keep running for just a few more minutes, then he could find a place to hide his precious cargo, and then he-

“Heh, you thought you could get away from us,” a voice taunted.

Itachi froze.

“He’s just a kid,” another voice stated breathlessly.

“A kid that outran us,” a third voice growled.

“The kid’s been trained,” stated the first voice.

“Screw this,” the third voice muttered.

“Lin, what do you think you’re doing,” the second voice screeched.

“He’s a ninja and there’s no way in hell I’m letting him get away,” the angry man yelled.

“Shit Lin,” the calm man said angrily. “Run!”

_“Shit,” Itachi cursed as he heard the familiar sound of sizzling paper bomb met his_  ears. Shifting the kids’ weight on his shoulders, the Uchiha heir broke out into a sprint. He made it two meters before he tripped, sending him and his sibling tumbling on the ground. Time was running out. He didn’t have time to get them and run, so he did the only thing he could. He pulled them close to his person, and shielded them with his body just as the paper bomb exploded.

There were no word to explain the pain he felt in those few seconds he remained conscious.

XxX

“Ugh, where am I,” the female Uchiha grumbled. She was lying flat on her stomach with her arms and legs spread out. Sharp rocks and pebbles poked into her small body uncomfortably. She could feel the soreness taking over her muscles. It was hard to move, but she slowly turned her head, her neck popping in the process. “Itachi? Sasuke?” she called out.

Sasuke was fanned out on his back a meter ahead of her. Kimi let out a breath of relief when she caught sight of the way the boy’s chest steadily rose and fell.

Despite the soreness that consumed her entire body, the eight year old hopped up onto her legs. The movement was too sudden. The world around her began to spin. Losing her balance, she was face down on the ground. Mustering up the strength, Kimi forced herself onto her hands and knees and crawled over to her little brother’s prone figure. Upon reaching him, she began to gently shake the boy.

“Nee-san,” Sasuke questioned blearily, voice hoarse. He moved to sit up, but was consumed by vertigo and swayed to the side. The five year old felt his sister’s arms wrap around his waist before he felt his back collide with her chest. He leaned his head back against her shoulder, and stared up into her dark eyes, much like his own. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly, meeting his eyes. “Do you think you can stand?”

“I can try.” With Kimi standing behind him, Sasuke slowly stood up with her help. He held onto her arms for support as the dizziness subsided. When he tried to take his first step, he tripped but Kimi caught him. “Where’s Nii-san?”

“I-I don’t know,” she replied, not meeting the boy’s questioning gaze.

“We’ll find him,” Sasuke stated as he took hold of her hand, taking the lead in the search for their older brother.

It didn’t take long to find the eldest Uchiha sibling. He was lying on his back about a kilometer from where Kimi and Sasuke had fallen. His face was extremely pale, and his face was twisted in agony.

“Itachi!” they shouted as they ran towards Itachi. They dropped to their knees beside their brother.

“Are you two okay,” Itachi asked.

“We’re fine. What about you?”

“I’ll live,” Itachi muttered, taking in his younger siblings’ appearances. Cuts and scratches littered their legs, arms, and faces, but other than that they were fine. Their wellbeing was all that mattered. He sat up… or at least he tried to. When his shoulders were barely an inch of the ground, a sharp searing pain spread across his entire back, momentarily stunning him. His mouth fell open in a silent scream with his eyes shut tight.

“Nii-san,” Sasuke cried. His hands hovered over his brother’s body, shaking trying to find something to sooth his brother’s pain, but there was nothing he could do.

Kimi slapped the younger boy’s hands away as she scooted closer to Itachi. Her hands flashed through a few seals and took on a translucent soft green glow. Moving her hands to hover over Itachi’s chest she concentrated on sending waves of soothing chakra though his system. It seemed to work as Itachi’s eyes opened and his body began to relax.

She then instructed Sasuke to sit behind Itachi’s head. Keeping her glowing hands on Itachi’s chest, she told Sasuke to slowly push the injured preteen up by his shoulders into a sitting position.

“Nee-san,” Sasuke called, his voice shaking with fear. His eyes were wide as he took in the sight of Itachi’s back. The eldest Uchiha’s shirt was ripped to shreds exposing his back.

Kimi looked up. She met her terrified brother’s eyes, and quickly moved to examine Itachi’s back. What she saw made her gasp, although she tried not to react too much so as not to worry Sasuke any further. “It’s alright Sasuke. I can handle this.” The truth was she wasn’t sure she could handle it. A mess, was the only way she could describe her older brother’s back. Third degree burns littered the majority of his back, arms, and legs. The skin that wasn’t burnt was an angry red. His wounds were further irritated by the dirt that had gotten into them. It pained her just to look at them, but what she felt was nowhere near the pain he felt. “We need to get out of here.”

“There’s a village just up ahead,” Itachi said between deep breaths, as Kimi let the flow of chakra come to an end.

The female Uchiha looked over to her little brother. She didn’t need to say anything to make him understand what she wanted him to do. Together they hauled Itachi up to his feet, taking extra care not to touch his back. Throwing his arm over their shoulders, they began to make a slow trip to the village.

“What happened?” Kimi questioned, trying to get a grip on Itachi’s waist while trying to avoid causing him pain. “All I remember was that man at the docks. Then waking up here, wherever here is. Where are we?”

“That man brought you two here, to Water Country. For what? I’m not certain. But now’s not the time for interrogation. There’s a civil war, and we’ve managed to get caught in the crossfire and mistaken as the enemy. If we don’t get out of the open-“

“We know,” Sasuke muttered.

Itachi shot the boy a glare, silencing him.

“Now is also not the time to fight with each other,” Kimi stated. She leaned in close to Itachi and whispered, “I know you’re in pain, but he was only worried about you. I’m sure you could understand that.” After that, the rest of their trip was continued in silence.

Soon the village came into view, and it didn’t take much longer for the three siblings to pass through the gates.  A few stores, restaurants, a single inn, and many stalls made up the market area. Small apartments to large houses made up the residential area. In the center of the market place was a large nearly dried up fountain. Doors and windows were left open or broken in the peoples’ haste to evacuate the village. Lush gardens had transformed into weed patches. It was like a thick layer of dust had settled over the entirety of the village.

Sasuke took a deep breath and tightened his grip on Itachi’s hand. Looking up at the sky, his eyes pleaded with the sun to stay, but he knew it would only be a matter of minutes for the sun to disappear into the horizon and the moon would come to take its place. Glancing at his brother, he quickly adverted his eyes back to the sunset. The older boy was already angry with him, and he didn’t want to make it worse by showing that he was afraid. So when he had met his brother’s eyes, he decided to but on a brave face. His false bravado fell when he felt Itachi tighten his grasp around his hand comfortingly.

“The entire village is deserted,” Itachi said softly. “The must’ve taken shelter elsewhere.”

“Well, then they won’t mind if we set up camp in one of their houses,” Kimi stated. “Don’t give me that look, Itachi. You’re in no condition to argue. Its better we take shelter in one of the houses rather than out in the open.”

In the end, they chose the house closest to the market, which turned out to be a small four bedroom townhouse. The townhouse had two floors, with the bedrooms upstairs and the living room and kitchen downstairs.

Kimi and Sasuke helped Itachi get settled onto the floor of the downstairs bathroom. “Sasuke-kun, I need you to go look for bandages in the kitchen.” She watched as he nodded his head and ran out of the bathroom.

“There are bandages in that first aid kit,” Itachi pointed out, looking at said first aid kit mounted on the wall.

“Yeah, but to Sasuke you’re invincible. It’ll scare him to see you in pain, and the last thing we need is a panicking little brother. Besides not even I like to see you in pain.”

“Are you sure you can heal me?”

“No,” she answered bluntly. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try. I’ve managed to heal first degree burns before.”

“This was all I could find,” Sasuke said as he burst back into the bathroom, arms loaded with all bandages and ointments he found scattered throughout the house. As he ran through the door a roll of bandages unwound and wrapped around his ankle causing him to trip and crash face first into the shower stall.

At the same time Itachi started to laugh at his little brother’s misfortune, Kimi grabbed Itachi’s shirt and ripped it away from his body. Itachi choked on his laughter as a sudden wave of pain shot through his back.

“Sorry, Nii-san,” Kimi mumbled as she spread waves a soothing chakra along his back. She then wet a wash cloth and began to gently dab at his back. “At least I was wrong about your burns. They’re only second degree. It thought they were third.”

“What’s the difference,” Itachi muttered sarcastically. “They all hurt.”

“Second degree burns cause the skin to turn red and blister, while third degree burns  turn the skin white and can cause damage to your internal organs and sometimes death,” Sasuke informed shocking Itachi.

“How-“

“We’re Uchiha. We’re known for our mastery of fire jutsu. It only makes sense that we know what kind of damage we cause,” Sasuke said innocently.

“Kimi don’t you even dare make a joke about burns,” Itachi fumed, silencing his sister before she could utter a single syllable.

“Love you too, Nii-san,” Kimi pouted before her face suddenly turned serious, something neither Sasuke nor Itachi had not seen in a long time. “So I’ve already deduced that your burns are second degree. These kind of burns take  _at least_  two weeks to fully heal. But I can make an ointment that can cut that time in half. I’m sure I can find all the ingredients here in this village. We’ll have to change your bandages every four hours to prevent infection, and every eight hours we’ll run cold water over them.”

Itachi gave his little sister a smile.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh! I think I saw a bottle of acetaminophen somewhere.” She scanned the floor looking for that specific bottle of pills. “Sasuke hand me that pink bottle.”

“What’re those for,” Itachi questioned, groaning as he accidentally stretched his back.

“Over-the-counter pain killers,” Kimi said as she handed two large pills over to the injured boy.

“As long as they work.” Itachi took the pills from Kimi’s outstretched hand and popped them into his mouth.

“Sasuke help Itachi shower, and I’ll go find what I need to make that ointment.”

In the kitchen, Kimi began her search for her desired ingredients. In the pantry she found a bottle of elder flower water and a loaf of bread, in the fridge she found a bottle of Sake, package of unopened cheese and a stick of butter, and out in the garden she found cucumbers and tomatoes among other herbs. Spreading out her findings on the kitchen table, she tied her hair back and quickly got to work.

She peeled five large cucumbers, chopped them into slices and put them to soak in a bowl of sake. Pushing that aside, she began to chop the tomatoes and toss them into a put on the stove. She then chopped up some of the herbs and spices she found and added them to the chopped tomatoes. Getting out the potato masher she mashed the cucumbers, while making sure not to spill the Sake. She alternated between mashing the cucumbers and stirring the tomatoes. Turning the stove off, she set the tomatoes to cool. She then opened the bottle of elder flower water and poured half into the cucumber and Sake mixture before placing it in the fridge to cool. Grabbing the cheese, bread, and butter, she finished her tasks.

When Itachi and Sasuke stepped out of the bathroom they were greeted with the smell of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Itachi turned a questioning eye onto the big bowl of green mush his sister was taking her time mixing.

“This isn’t food,” she said when she caught his gaze. “It’s that herbal remedy I told you about. Cucumbers, Sake, elder flower water-“

“I get it.”

“Can I have some more,” Sasuke asked as he finished up his serving of soup.

After dinner, Itachi found himself lying between his younger siblings in the master bedroom.

“How did you two end up in that port village?”

“I found this in your room,” Sasuke said as he pulled out a scroll from his pocket.

“That’s the scroll we were supposed to deliver.”

“What is it,” Kimi questioned.

“It’s a jutsu. We were supposed to give it to another village leader as a truce, but they ended up attacking us. From your questions, I guess you were trying to bring that to me.”

“How are we going to get home,” Sasuke asked, curling up into his pillow.

“A fisherman said he’d was three miles off the shore every day at three for a couple weeks.”

“In that case, I’m going to have to get you healed completely before then.”

XxX

Four days had passed since they had arrived in the village. The sunlight shined through the window of the master bedroom. Itachi laid sprawled out on his stomach, his left arm resting atop Kimi’s stomach and his right knee in Sasuke’s back. It was the first time since the explosion that the ten year old slept comfortably. His back was nearly healed, and soon they would be making their way back home. Kimi shifted uncomfortably under the weight of her older brother’s arm. Grabbing hold of the offending appendage, she lifted it above her head and quickly snuggled into the boy’s side right before his arm dropped back into place.

Sasuke twitched irritably. Itachi’s knee was resting deep into his bladder… kidneys? He wasn’t sure witch one it was, but it was painful and was sure to leave a bruise. To make matters worse, it felt like the sun had a personal vendetta against him as it was trying to blind him, and he didn’t even have his eyes open yet. He rolled over to the right hoping to get a face full of pillow, but was rudely awakened when he fell onto the floor. Groaning, the boy slowly pushed himself up off the floor and made his way to the bathroom before heading downstairs.

The five year old walked out to the garden. He breathed in the fresh morning air. He hated mornings. If his brother hadn’t decided to use his back as a knee rest, he would have slept in till around noon. Walking down the rows of vegetables, he stopped when he found the tomato plant. Twisting a particularly pump one off the vine, he rubbed it off against his shirt before taking a bite.

He didn’t like staying in someone else’s house, but they were lucky no one had discovered them. He knew their situation could have been worse, and they could have been stranded in the woods with little to no protection. He was grateful for that, but still, it was someone else’s home.

_Crunch!_

His back went stiff. Someone was there. He knew it wasn’t Kimi or Itachi. They would have announced their presence. Dropping his breakfast, he turned on his heel and made a mad dash towards the back door of the townhouse.

Tears leaked from his frightened eyes as a hand was placed over his mouth and he was forcefully lifted off the ground. He kicked his legs back and forth, forcing his captor to remove their hand from his mouth, in an attempt to better restrain him. He wasted no time, and screamed as loud as he possibly could.

“Shh,” his captor tried to calm him. “It’s alright.”

Sasuke twisted out of the stranger’s grasp. He landed on his feet. He was face to face with his would be kidnapper. She was a tall slender woman. Her auburn colored hair fell down to her lower back and framed her pale face. Vibrant green eyes stared down at him. She wore a uniform of fishnet tights, black shorts, a blue kimono style top, and a pair of gray knee high combat sandals. Tied around her neck was the forehead protector marking her as a ninja of the Hidden Mist.

“Get away from me! Ugly old hag,” Sasuke shouted the first thing that came to his young mind.

The woman’s eye twitched in annoyance. “I’m only twenty-four!” she shouted back down at the boy.

“Ol~d bat,” Sasuke muttered back, as he ran past the woman towards the wooden fence. His short legs didn’t take him very far before he was once again in the woman’s grasp.  _Nice one,_ he thought sarcastically, as he ran straight into the fountain located in the center of the market place.

“Listen you little brat,” the woman shouted as she grabbed Sasuke by the arm. Just as she was about to pull him closer to her body, a sharp pain flashed across her wrist forcing her to release hold of the black haired boy. Her head snapped to the side as a hail of kunai rained down on her. Acting on reflex, her hands quickly flashed through a series a hand seals. Her cheeks puffed out, and a jet stream of water shot through her lips, making direct contact.

“Nii-san!” His eyes were wide, as he stared at his brother with a horror stricken expression.

Itachi was knocked off his feet from the force of the blast. His head collided with ground, making the world around him begin to spin. Black dots appeared before his eyes. Despite that, he jumped back onto his feet and continued his assault.

His dark eyes closed, and they reopened a furious red.

He took in the way the woman’s green eyes widened in surprise, and realized that he had just blown their cover. Every ninja knew about the Sharingan, and they knew which village the Uchiha were associated with. He didn’t like the way the woman smirked at him, nor did he like the way she looked down at his brother in fascination.

Every kunai he threw, every shuriken launched, the brown haired woman dodged with ease and returned a few of her own.  _Amazing,_  she thought, observing the ten year old. He dodged everything she threw at him with ease. As an Uchiha, she knew they were greatly skilled in fire based jutsu, so it came as a great surprise when the boy reproduced one of her water based jutsu with ease. Although the boy was impressive, she had experience on her side. She created several more seals in quick succession. Her cheeks puffed out once again and she released another jet stream of water from between her lips. Only this time she wasn’t aiming for the older boy, she was aiming towards the younger one who stood frozen near the fountain.

He didn’t have time to spare. He turned on his heel and ran straight for Sasuke. Just as he stepped before the boy, the stream of water collided with his back, pushing him down on top of the smaller boy. Itachi cursed his luck. His sister had spent the past week healing his burns, and now he was sure his back was cooked… or at least boiled. The water was scalding. Tears welled up in his eyes as he bit his lip to suppress his screams. Through squinted eyes, he looked down at his little brother’s fearful expression.

“Run,” he whispered. No reaction. The five year old stayed clinging to the front of his shirt. He got onto his hands and knees, lifted the boy onto his feet and pushed him. He jumped to his feet, and drew his tanto. Tuning his back to the boy he shouted, “Run! Get out of here!”

Those few seconds he had his head turned, was all the time the green eyed woman needed to attack again. This time the Uchiha boy didn’t stand a chance and was knocked down, unconscious.

“Listen you stupid brats,” she shouted taking a step forward. “I don’t want to hurt you! I-Ahhhhhh!” Intense heat whipped at her back, pushing her forward. The brown haired woman collapsed to her hands and knees, breathing hard. She grit her teeth, trying to breathe through the pain. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a small figure race towards her. She didn’t have time to react as a small fist connected with her face. When her vision cleared, she looked straight she saw a spec of a girl, no more than six years old, standing protectively in front of the two boys, whom she bore a great resemblance too.  _Another one!_

“Yeah, like I’m gon’na believe that,” the small girl shouted, eyes narrowing dangerously. “Next time why don’t you start with that? You know we would have believed you, but then you attacked us. You could have just gone on the defense!”

The green eyed woman slowly rose to her feet, not one taking her eyes off the girl who reminded her of an angry kitten. She didn’t let her guard down. The children before her may be young, but they were Uchiha. Any Uchiha, no matter their age, was considered a threat. Although the girl standing before her was adorable, she had to regard her as an enemy. She took the girl’s words into consideration, and realized she was right. She could have gone on the defense and not have attacked, but the problem was she didn’t mean to attack. After fighting in a civil war for the past month – fighting against people who were supposed to be her comrades – she wasn’t sure who was friend or foe. So when the older of the two boy attacked her, she acted purely on reflex.

The woman blinked, and the next thing she knew she was jumping to the side to dodge a fireball that was easily three times her size. The girl was impressive, and she was right to be wary of her, even if she was only a six year old.

Kimi studied the woman as she pulled random weapons out of her weapons pouch. Shuriken – six of them. She bit her lip. She had to think of something. She took a step back, weapons held in the spaces between her fingers. Not taking her eyes off the woman, she spoke softly but loud enough for her petrified little brother to hear her. “Otouto, I need you to grab Itachi and run.”

“I can’t leave you!” Sasuke nearly shouted. There was no way her would just leave her behind to die.

“You can and you will,” she ordered. She shifted her left leg back towards the younger boy. “Take my kunai holster, I have more than enough in my pouch. You’ll need something to defend yourself with.”

“Nee-san,” the boy pleaded.

“I’ll stall her while you and Itachi head towards the beach. From there you have to swim out three miles. There’ll be a boat with an old man. He’ll take you back to that port village, and from there you two can make it back home.”

“No!” Sasuke shouted, his voice echoing throughout the entire village, startling both Kimi and the woman.

In shock, Kimi took her eyes off the woman and looked over her shoulder at Sasuke with wide eyes. “Wha-! Sasuke this isn’t the time to be-“

Sasuke lunged forward, wrapping his arms around his sister’s waist from behind, tears flowing freely. “I don’t care what the clan thinks. To me you’re so much more than an Uchiha, you’re my sister. That is why I will take your kunai pouch, I will take Nii-san to the beach, but I won’t leave without you. So don’t ask me to leave you behind. We’ll wait for you, and then we’ll swim to that boat together. We’ll go home together. I know you can beat her. I believe in you!”

Kimi’s only response was to cross her arms in front of her chest, fists hovering on either side of her face, head bowed. She felt Sasuke remove her kunai holster from her left thigh, and head him strap it onto his own, and she heard the sound of him lifting their older brother onto his back. She was sure it was quite a site to see – a small five year old carrying a ten year old who was just about twice his size. Then she heard him begin to take his first steps in the direction of the village gates. That was when her tears began to flow and her shoulders began to shake.

The woman with the green eyes watched in interest as the two boys attempted to make their escape. She ran in their direction, but was halted by the sudden onslaught of shuriken. Raising her kunai she deflected them, all but one. The one that managed to get through, slid past her face leaving a shallow cut along her cheek. Next thing she knew, the girl was under her aiming a punch at her abdomen, but she quickly caught the small fist in her larger hand. The girl then lifted her right hand and prepared to strike but the woman caught that one as well. The green eyed woman thought she had successfully restrained the girl, but the girl surprised her by jumping up and aiming a kick at her head. She quickly let go of her wrists and held her arms in an x-formation to block the kick.

The young girl’s left heel connected with the woman’s arms. Pushing down with her left heel, she brought her right knee up. She made contact with the woman’s chin sending her tumbling backwards. Kimi quickly flipped mid-air and landed in a crouched position. She then brought her hands up as flashed through a series of hands seals. Lifting her left hand to the side of her mouth, she inhaled deeply. When she exhaled a stream of fire passed through her lips forming a large blazing ball of fire.

_“Katon: Fireball no Jutsu!”_

The woman was caught off guard, and took a direct hit. Looking up, she met the young girl’s eyes. Again, they were narrowed dangerously. Only this time, they made her feel fear. Gone was the expression that reminded her of an angry kitten, and in its place was an expression of demon. The innocent girl from before was gone and in her place was a warrior. In her eyes was a fire that hadn’t been there before. It burned hot and angry, but also bright and filled with determination. At the beginning, the woman had thought their battle would be an easy one with her coming out the victor, but now she wasn’t so sure. Now, it had truly become a battle.

Getting up off her knees, the brown haired woman took a stance. She flashed through a series of hand seals. Placing her right hand up to her mouth, she inhaled deeply and held it, feeling the chakra churn and change form.

Kimi eyed the woman carefully. Was she about to perform jutsu similar to her previous attack?

The woman exhaled, and a stream of fire didn’t pass through her parted lips. Instead a river of a thick bright red substance gushed out of her mouth. As it hit the ground, it burned everything in its path even setting unfortunate patches of grass and weeds aflame.

_Lava,_ the Uchiha mentally screeched. Had she not had the sense to jump to higher ground, she’d have been boiled alive. With a newfound respect for lobsters, she watched as the lava split into small rivers from her perch atop the seven foot water fountain. If only she had been like Itachi and had a natural affinity for water she could have cooled the lava. Springing up, she leapt off the fountain and landed a good distance away from the melted rock. Drawing more shuriken, she resumed her assault. If things kept up, she would end up having to see what affect her natural affinity would have on the woman’s lava jutsu.

The woman on the other hand, wove through the barrage of kunai and shuriken. She felt a sudden stinging pain on her thigh. After pulling the projectile out, she rolled it in her fingers before sending it back to its owner. So the girl wielded senbon as well. She remembered someone warning her about those who wielded senbon, but she just couldn’t remember what they had said. Whatever it was couldn’t have been that important. Clearing her head of her thoughts, her hand flew through another series of seals.

The battle waged on. The two combatants switched between Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, evading and attacking, neither ever really gaining the upper hand.

The woman was surprised the girl lasted as long as she had, but she also noticed that she had begun to slow down.

Kimi knew she had to do something, anything. She couldn’t let it all end here. So when the woman spurted out another river of lava, Kimi decided it was time to find out what kind of affect her natural affinity would have on the lava. Her small hands flashed though a sequence of hand seals she had once seen one of Kakashi’s former classmates practice – Izumo? Azumo? His name wasn’t important. What was important was replicating the hand seals she had seen. After her hands formed the final seal, she drew them apart and brought them back together in a loud clap.

_“Futon: Great Breakthrough!”_

Kimi felt the wind pick up around her, before it shot out in front of her. It wasn’t as grand as the man’s had been, but it was enough. It completely cooled and hardened the lava in a half dome-like shield around her.

The woman stared wide-eyed at what had once had been a wall of molten rock.

Kimi reached into her weapons pouch, and cursed her luck. She was out. All she had left were her medical supplies. Not to mention, her chakra was running low. She was still far from being physically exhausted, but she could feel herself become slower. She needed to get close to the woman. Taijutsu was her only option.

The woman ran to the other side of the rock wall when her opponent didn’t make an appearance. She knew she would be walking into an ambush, but after a jutsu like that, she doubted the girl had very much chakra left. As soon as she rounded the corner, she was dodging kicks and punches. So the girl was running low on chakra, after all. For a moment, she thought the battle had been won, but that was only until she lost complete movement of her right arm. Falling back, she stared up at the small girl as she clutched at her arm as it dangled uselessly at her side.

The woman continued to stare at the girl. The warning she had once received, came rushing back into the forefront of her mind.  _“Be wary of those who wield senbon, the majority are medics. They can kill as easily as they can heal.”_ Now without her arm, she was completely useless. As a ninja she greatly relied on Ninjutsu above everything else. Before that moment, no one had ever been able to get past her defense. Having two kekkei genkai she… But then this girl, she comes out of nowhere and breaks through her defenses. Her thought process was broken when she felt a sharp slicing pain in her thigh. Her leg gave out and she crumpled to the ground.

“It worked,” Kimi muttered, but the brown haired woman still heard her. “I can’t believe that actually worked. I finally created chakra scalpels.”

_Chakra scalpels,_  the woman parroted in her mind.  _A medical technique that can cut through muscles and bones without breaking the skin._

Kimi was about to run, when the woman’s soft voice called out to her.

“How,” the woman questioned. “How can you… a little six year old beat me? I don’t… I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I,” Kimi replied honestly, tugging at a strand of her hair. “I was prepared to die here so that they could get away. For the past three years, I had been living my life just going through the motions. I had given up, lost all hope. But then Sasuke, he said he believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. He’s waiting for me to go to him, so that we can all go home together. Itachi has always been invincible. Yet you managed to take him down so easily, and that made me realize that we all fail sometimes. If there’s something worth protecting, then we should fight for it with everything we have.” She gave the woman a smile that lit up her entire face. “I won’t die to protect the ones I hold close to my heart. I’ll live to protect them.”

“Who are you?”

The Uchiha turned around and faced the fallen woman. "My name is Kimi. I have a lot of likes and not many dislikes. I have a dream… no… not a dream. An ambition because I will make sure it happens, no matter how much I fall or struggle. I will become a respected Shinobi and medic-nin, one that will rival Senju Tsunade and fight beside Hatake Kakashi! And I will end this curse of hatred!"

The woman huffed a laugh. “Then I wish you the best of luck, Kimi. My comrades are on their way, so you better get out of here.”

“Thanks.”

“We’ll meet again, and we’ll fight.”

“I’m looking forward to it. But if you threaten or hurt my brothers again, or anyone precious to me for that matter, I’ll destroy you!” with that, Kimi spun on her heel and began to run to her brothers.

“Took you guys long enough,” the woman muttered as her partner walked onto the scene, his blue eyes watching the young girl with anger.

“Are you just going to let them get away,” the blue eyed man asked, as he supported the weight of his injured comrade.

“Yes,” the green eyed woman stated. “I’m interested in seeing what she becomes.”

“She could be a potential threat.”

“Or our greatest ally.” She ran a hand through her long mane of thick brown hair. “Either way, I like that look in her eyes.”

“Mei-“

“I’ve made my decision.” She gave a soft smile as she watched her young opponent escape. Their battle had sparked something within her. Something that hadn’t been there before. “Tomorrow we head to the heart of this, this civil war has gone on long enough. It’s time to put an end to it all. Yagura will fall. I’ll live to bring peace back to Kiri and protect its people.”

XxX

“Alright class, today those of you who are ready can take the exit exam,” Sarutobi Mori informed the whole of his class. “Those of you who aren’t ready to take the exams may take the next two days off.” He watched as half the class cleared the room. A frown marred his handsome features, when he saw no sight of the youngest of his class. She had been absent for two weeks straight, and when he went to check up on her at her apartment, there were no signs of her. He reported it to the Hokage, and after a thorough search, it was discovered that Mikoto and Fugaku’s youngest son had also disappeared, and their eldest had abandoned his mission.

More than anything, he prayed for the day when she-

“Mori-sensei! Sorry I’m late,” his missing student shouted as she jumped into the classroom through the window, startling him and his students. She almost tripped, but ended up rolling into a summersault, and jumping up onto his desk. “I got lost on the road of life!”

-came bursting into the classroom.

“Kimi your back,” Inuzuka Hana yelled excitedly, jumping up from her seat.

“Kimi, get off my desk,” Mori shouted as he felt his eyebrow begin to twitch in annoyance. “And stay away from Hatake-san. He’s a bad influence.”

“Did I miss the graduation exam,” the dark haired girl questioned.

“No, you made it just in time,” Mori stated in a monotone.

“So, I’m not late.”

“Just follow me, and let’s get this over with.” With that, Mori led her to the classroom across the hall. At the front of the room, there was a table with three of the sensei seated behind it. Mori left her at the door and took his seat at the far left of the table.

One of the sensei beckoned the girl into the room. “Shut the door behind you.”

“It says here that you’ve taken the test two times before, and failed both times,” the only female sensei spoke. “The rules state that a student may test three times, before being dropped from the program. The only way a student may take the test a fourth time is if your Jonin sensei fails you, then you would return take the test again and repeat the process until your assigned the right sensei. Are you aware of that?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“After failing this test two times in a row, are you sure you’re ready to take this test? You may just end up failing again and getting dropped from the program,” the woman continued.

Kimi gave the woman a sweet smile, before her hand flew in a flurry of hand seals. There was a poof of smoke. When the smoke cloud dissipated, the female sensei was standing where Kimi once stood, while the eight year old sat in the seat beside her sensei. “I am more than certain that I will pass this test.”

XxX

“Kimi did you pass,” Hana asked as her best friend walked back into the classroom fifteen minutes later. Her smile dropped as she took notice of the serious expression on the younger girl’s face. “K-Kimi, I-I I’m so sorry.”

Kimi paid no mind to Hana’s apologies and walked straight to her fellow clan mate.

“So I see you failed for the third time,” Yozora mocked. “I can’t believe you actually thought you could-“

“Shut up, Yozora,” Kimi muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Now listen closely,” Kimi ordered as she walked to stand directly in front of the older Uchiha girl. “You and the entire clan can try to kill me all you want,” she gave the older girl a true Uchiha smirk as she tied the Konoha headband on her forehead, “but I’m not going anywhere.”


	21. Part 1: Team 7

“Awe yeah,” Kimi shouted as she burst into the kitchen of the main house in the Uchiha District. She landed on top of the table with her arms spread out wide. A triumphant grin stretched across her face and eyes shut tightly. She then leaned forward and opened her eyes to stare directly at her parents shocked faces, her smile never leaving her face. She then held her hair out of her face, showing off her newly acquired Hidden Leaf forehead protector. “Guess who just made Genin? Here’s a hint, it’s not Sasuke.”

“Hey,” Sasuke cried indignantly, slamming his tiny hands on the table as he glared at his older sister. His face turned red with anger when she responded by sticking her tongue out in his direction.

Kimi’s smile suddenly fell, momentarily scaring her parents. Her young face became serious as she took a seat on the table between them.

“I know you guys are probably angry,” Kimi began. “But don’t blame Sasuke or Itachi. I should have known better. I should have talking him out of it, rather than going along with him. Itachi only abandoned his mission because of us.”

“Kimi,” Fugaku started but was cut off when his daughter held up a hand.

The eight year old stared into her parents’ eyes. “But if I could go back to that night when we left, I wouldn’t change a thing.” She looked over her shoulder at her brothers and flashed them a small smile. “I regret letting Sasuke get caught up in everything and letting Itachi getting hurt, but I don’t regret leaving. If we never left, then I would still be stuck. I never would have found my reason for fighting. I never would have found my strength.” She let out a soft sigh, before breaking out into another smile. “So… if you have to punish anyone, punish me. It is all my fault after all.”

Fugaku and Mikoto could only stare at their daughter with wide eyes. They couldn’t believe it. The fire that had been absent from their daughter’s eyes for the past three years, was burning brighter and stronger than ever. The smile on her face was the largest and truest they had seen in a long time. She was positively beaming. Their little girl was back. The real Kimi was back.

Fugaku stood on his knees. He stared into his only daughter’s eyes, with a mix of pride and tears. In one quick fluid motion, he enveloped her much smaller body in his arms.

Laughing, Mikoto took hold of her little girl’s face and showered her with kisses, the exact same thing she had done with both of her sons. Stretching her arms out, she grabbed the two boy by the fronts of their shirts and pulled them into the embrace.

“Man, I can feel the love,” a voice stated dreamily.

Fugaku felt the heat rise up his neck to the tip of his ear. Breaking away from his family, he glared at the offending commenter. “Shisui! Get out of my house!”

XxX

“So how did it go,” Hana asked as she fell into step with her best friend the next morning. After they went their separate ways after school the previous day, she spent the rest of the day thinking over everything Kimi told her. It was a lot to process, but in the end Kimi and her brothers were able to return home safe. She was angry at the girl, but not for the reason one would think. She was angry because on the way out of the village they had to pass by the Inuzuka Compound, and her best friend didn’t think to invite her. The young Inuzuka only calmed down when the Uchiha promised she would be a part of the next secret mission she planned.

“I’m not grounded,” Kimi muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest. After Shisui ruined the little family hug fest in the kitchen, her parents had given her and her brothers a long lecture. The three sibling were certain they would be grounded, but Mikoto and Fugaku were just glad their daughter was back to her old self and that they all came home safe and sound.  _We dodged a bullet there._ “Itachi’s fine by the way. I don’t know I told you that. They forced him to go to the hospital after we finished telling them everything. Itachi had to report everything to the Hokage.”

“But he left out the parts about you being there,” Hana finished.

“Pretty much. The funny part is the medics think the Uchiha developed super speed healing,” Kimi said with a laugh. “I guess it’s another thing that makes Uchiha Itachi a fearsome opponent.”

The Inuzuka frowned at her best friend. It was always like this. Kimi may be back to her old happy self, but the pain the girl felt when she had to be kept a secret remained. The secret of the Uchiha clan.

“Don’t worry. One day everyone will see you as a fearsome Uchiha,” Hana said with a bright smile.

“I don’t care about being recognized as an Uchiha,” Kimi replied, biting her lower lip. “I just want the strength to protect my precious people, the village, and everyone that needs protecting, part of the village or not.” She flashed a bright smile to the older girl. “I know I’m an Uchiha by birth. I know who my parents and brothers are. So, so what if I’m a secret to the whole world. I know who I am, and the people who matter the most know who I am.”

“Well said,” a familiar voice said from behind the girls, making them stop in their tracks. Upon turning around, they were met by the sight of an ANBU member.

“Kimi,” Hana shouted accusingly. “What did you do? You just got back yesterday, and you’re already tormenting the ANBU!” The brown haired girl then turned to face the masked stranger, and gave a bow. “I’m sorry ANBU-san for whatever it was this idiot did.” She turned her head to face Kimi, and silently counted to three. When she reached three she grabbed the smaller girl’s hand and took off in a sprint towards the Academy.

As they were running, Hana released Kimi’s hand. Once free, Kimi stopped running. She tried calling out to her friend, but the Inuzuka was already running through the gates of the Academy. The Uchiha backed up into a nearby park, and had to fight to hold back laughter.

“You’ve traumatized that poor girl,” the masked ANBU said as he landed gracefully in front of the snickering Uchiha.

“Hey,” Kimi shouted, feeling offended. She gave him a hard stare. “She’s the one who likes to join me. It’s not like I’m forcing her or anything.”

“You know, your glare’s good, but your little pouting lip ruins the affect,” the dog-masked ANBU stated, opening his arms wide.

Kimi’s eyes softened and smile spread across her face, before she ran into the teen’s open arms. She threw her arms around his neck. She gave a soft squeal as she was lifted off the ground. When he tried to meet her eyes, she buried her face in his chest. Her head shook from side to side when he grabbed her from under her arms and held her at arm’s length.

“Kimi,” the ANBU called, removing his mask. “Would you care to explain what happened?”

She bit her lip. She knew this was going to happen sooner or later. She knew she would have to face him eventually. Her parents had understood. After she had explained everything their anger dissipated, and they were proud of her and really happy for some unknown reason. The teen before her, however, was a completely different story. Her parents worried, yes, but… she couldn’t even imagine what he went through. She knew he’s lost everyone he’s ever cared about, and then she goes and disappears on him. The guilt hit her the moment she saw him. It was the reason she had frozen, and didn’t run with Hana. It was the reason why, when Hana let go of her hand she had stopped running. Then she tried to hide, but watching her best friend run away in terror made her laugh, giving away her position.

She gave up on trying not to look at him, and looked him in his mismatched eyes – one red and one black. Her eyes began to water. “I’m sorry!” she shouted bowing her head, accidentally head-butting the teen in the process.

“Ack! Kimi you have a really hard head,” Kakashi groaned. He chocked. She had thrown her arms around his neck again and hugged him tightly. He could feel her fingers digging into the back of his neck. He let out a sigh, and returned her embrace.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Like I told my parents, I don’t regret leaving. I know you must have been worried-“

“Terrified, actually. I thought I’d lost you too.”

“And I’m sorry for that. But I can’t always be sorry for making you worry about me,” she said looking him in the eyes. “I’m a ninja now… or at least, I’m close to being one. I’ll start taking missions soon, and I will get hurt. It’s part of the job. While I can’t promise you that I’ll always be okay, or safe for that matter, I can promise you that I’ll always come back.”

Kakashi gave her a small smile. “And if you don’t come back, I’ll hunt you down. I’m a tracker after all.”

“Kakashi it’s easier to make a list of the things you aren’t,” Kimi said with a laugh. “You’re good at everything.”

“Not everything.”

“Just about.”

“W-Well,” Kakashi stuttered as his cheeks turned a light pink. It always embarrassed him when the little Uchiha told him just how highly she thought of him. He held her tightly and breathed in her familiar scent of carnations and cherries. When had she become someone so important to him? Was it when she was there for him when Rin…? Was it when she had been reckless and gone after the Kyuubi? Or was it about a week ago when her parents had come looking for her at his apartment? The why, the how, or the when didn’t matter. All he knew was that she was important to him. He shook his head. He should have realized it sooner, especially when he tried talking her out of a career as a ninja.

“I better get to the Academy,” Kimi said, as she released her hold of the white haired teen. When he let go of her, she landed softly on her feet. “We’re being assigned teams today.” She gave him a quick hug around his waist, before running towards the Academy, only to be stopped when he called out to her.

“By the way, how did you and Sasuke manage to sneak out of the Uchiha District?”

“It was date night and Shisui was babysitting. He trained to hard and fell asleep on the couch.”

XxX

_Don’t attack her. No matter how much you want too. It would look bad on the clan… and possibly cause waaay to much drama. Although, I think Fugaku-sama wouldn’t mind too, too much. I mean, she’s a bitch and not even he likes her that much. I wonder what the triplets think._ She cast a glance at the three sleeping puppies on top of her desk, and let out a sigh.  _I wonder if they’d eat her._ She looked at the black haired girl in question.  _Nah! She’d probably give them indigestion._

“Uh, Hana,” Kimi called uncertainly. “What’s with that creepy smile?”

“Huh,” Hana responded dumbly, snapping out of her thoughts. Kimi raised an eyebrow at her as, she took her seat. “I was just wondering if I could convince the triplets to eat Yozora.”

“Don’t. She’d just give them indigestion.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Hana exclaimed, causing everyone to turn and stare at them. “I knew there was a reason we’re such great friends.”

Kimi twitched when she felt a pair of eyes intensely glaring at her. Turning her head in the direction she felt the stare coming from, she met the eyes of her worst enemy. The magnitude of the older girl’s hatred was enough to send child down even a seasoned Chunin’s spine. Unfortunately for Yozora, Kimi stopped caring about what she and the clan thought about her. So she returned the girl’s icy glare with a fiery glare of her own.

“Alright class, today I’ll be assigning you into your teams,” Mori said as he walked into the classroom. “Kimi sit down!” he shouted not even bothering to look up from the clipboard he held. He took his place at the podium in the front of the classroom and began assigning teams.

“Team one-“

…

“On team seven, we have,” he paused. He took the Hokage’s sanity into consideration as he read out the names on the list. “Inuzuka Hana-“

“That’s me,” Hana said as she sat up straighter in her seat.

“Kimi-“

Hana flashed a beaming smile at her seatmate.

“And finally…” Mori took a deep breath mentally preparing himself. “Uchiha Yozora.” He was met with three blank stares from the girls. The stares quickly morphed into looks of rage.

“WHAT!” the three girls of team 7 shouted simultaneously. “What kind of pairing is that?”

Mori held his hands up, trying to calm the girls from a distance. “Usually the teams consist of two boys and one girl, but this year there were too many girls. But the Hokage takes everything into consideration when he chooses the teams. He must believe that you three fit well together.” He paled when he noticed the glares the two black haired girl were shooting each other.

“I feel sorry for the idiot who gets to be out sensei,” Hana muttered offhandedly.

Mori paled even further. He was that poor idiot who got picked to be their Jonin sensei.

Two hours later, the Sarutobi found himself standing before his first ever Genin team. They were standing in the same training ground where he began his ninja career and all the other members of Team 7 before and after him.

He didn’t even know where to start. The tree girl were different from how he and his former teammates were. For starters’ his teammates were Uchiha Mikoto, the matriarch of the Uchiha clan, and Namikaze Minato, the late Yondaime Hokage. Not to mention, their Jonin sensei was Jiraiya one the Legendary Sannin and Toad Sage. Compared to them he was nothing special. All he could really do was pass down what he had learned to the next generation on ninja.

Mori knew Kimi and Hana were best friends, and he also knew that Yozora was their worst enemy and vice versa.

He let out a sigh as he reached into his pocket.

“Since we all are already well acquainted, we can skip over the introductions and move onto more important matters.” He scanned his eyes over the girls. “Out of all the graduates only about 33% or rather three teams will actually become ninja. That is because most will fail their Genin test.”

“But I thought were already passed the Genin test,” Hana asked. She was the only one that could talk. Yozora wasn’t stupid enough to insult the Inuzuka clan head’s daughter.

“You passed the graduation exam. The Genin test is what decides if you get to continue on the path of a ninja. If you fail, you can choose between going back to the Academy, or being dropped from the program.”

“What’s the test?” the Inuzuka asked.

He removed his hand from his front pocket and held of two silver bells held by pieces of ninja wire. “For this test all you have to do is get these bells from me.”

“But there’s only two,” Kimi said, speaking up for the first time. It didn’t make any sense. There was three of them, and two bells. Unless one person would fail. If that were the case then she hoped Yozora would be the one sent back to the Academy. But that wasn’t right either. They were split off into teams of three. Also from what she knew of Genin teams, they all consisted of three members.

“Thank you Captain Obvious,” Yozora muttered, rolling her eyes at the younger Uchiha.

“There are only two bells because, one of you will be sent back to the Academy while the other two get to be trained by me-“

“Bluff,” the tree girls said in unison, cutting off their sensei.

“Would you care to explain,” Mori questioned. He sweat dropped when he saw the two black haired girls looked to the Inuzuka.

Hana sighed.  _Great now I’m the go-between-girl._ “We’ve just graduated from the Academy yesterday, and you’re an experienced Jonin. The only way for us to be able to take you down would be if we worked together, but that wouldn’t happen because there are only to bell, meaning one of us would fail. This test is designed to pit us against each other.”

Mori stared at his students. They had figured out the answer behind the test so quickly. When he and his teammates had taken the test, they had been too busy trying to take their sensei down on their own. It wasn’t until Jiraiya had thrown them all in the river that they decided to work together against him to get pay back. He also remembered that they all were stuck home with colds the next day.

“You girls are right. The theory behind this test is teamwork. But theorizing is not the same as taking action. You know the answer, but can you three work together to get these bells from me.”

Kimi and Hana glared at Yozora, and Yozora returned their glares.

“You three have two hours to get these bells from me, or you fail and get sent back to the Academy.” An idea popped into his head. They didn’t look like they would be working together anytime soon. Maybe they just needed a little inspiration. “Yozora how would it look if an Uchiha failed to pass the Genin exam. Hana, wouldn’t it make the Inuzuka look bad if you failed, you are one of the heirs, right? Kimi, are you sure you can handle this test, you just barely passed the graduation exam.”

That had done it. Too bad for Mori, as he was beaten to a pulp by his three Genin. His tiny Genin. Why did girls have to be so small? 


End file.
